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THE WORLD'S RELIGION. 



"They praise and they admire they know not what 
And know not whom, but as one leads the other ; 
And what delight to bs by such extoll'd ! 
To live upon their tongues, and be their talk, 
Of whom to be dispraised were no small praise !" 

Milton. 



THE 



WORLDS RELIGION, 



AS CONTRASTED WITH 



GENUINE CHRISTIANITY. 



BY 




LADY COLQUHOUN. 

DAUGHTER OF THE HON. SlR JOHN SINCLAIR. 



" Our Lord Jesug Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might 
deliver us from this present evil world." 

Gal. i. 3, 4. 



NEW-YORK 



JOHN S. TAYLOR, 

Theological and Sunday School Publisher and Bookseller, 
Brick Church Chapel. 



1839. 






o 



PREFACE 



That the things of time should so frequently be 
held in higher estimation than those of eternity, is 
a fact that appears strangely inconsistent ; and to 
account for it with any thing like reason is impos- 
sible. Several circumstances, however, concur to 
produce this anomaly. And first, our short-sight- 
edness. Our eyes seem strained when we look 
beyond present objects and enjoyments ; we are 
unable to fix them for any lengthened period upon 
futurity ; we see what is around us in the world, 
but we see not, or very obscurely, even with the 
light the Scriptures afford, distant realities, however 
glorious. And then our depravity confines our 
thoughts and desires to the vanities of time. As 
fallen creatures, we have no taste for the sublime 
pleasures which infinitely transcend those of earth, 



VI PREFACE. 

and, therefore, worldly concerns alone interest, and 
upon them the dependence and the hope are solely 
placed for gratification and comfort. To forget that 
there is another state of being is frequently the aim 
of mankind, and if it be kept in view at all, a re- 
versionary interest in the heavenly felicity, when 
every thing here fails, is that which induces a 
thought concerning it, and not delight in the joys 
that surround the throne of the Eternal. 

Thus men are contented to play with earth's 
baubles ; and when disappointment succeeds to 
hope, some other toy supplies the place of the for* 
mer, till its fallaciousness also is proved. And so 
man's earthly career is spent in grasping at shad- 
ows, and grieving to find them unsubstantial, un- 
satisfying, and evanescent. 

This life cannot yield sufficient happiness for an 
immortal soul, inasmuch as its utmost bound is but 
as nothing in comparison with the infinitely length- 
ened term of an eternal existence. The world's 
good is but a pittance when enjoyment must be 
found for endless years, or these years spent in the 
lack of it. It is mockery to desire a man to live 
eternally upon the sustenance of a day ! If we 
secure not something more lasting than earth's best 



PREFACE. Vll 

gifts, we must shortly be deprived of all on which 
our hearts are set. 

That the world is delusive and ensnaring, it is 
our endeavour, in the following pages, to prove. 
That no solid joy can accrue from its vain show 
and idle pageantry, we believe all who possess them 
will, as with one voice, testify. The pleasures of 
earth allure in anticipation, but they seldom deceive 
in possession. Take but a full draught of worldly 
enjoyments, and the intoxication ceases ; and if 
wedded to the world still, it is because true joy is 
unknown. 

Wherein real blessedness consists, and the way 
in which it may be attained, it is likewise our de- 
sire to point out. And should we have the un- 
speakable comfort of being instrumental, through 
the divine blessing, in opening the eyes of one 
worldly character, to see the futility of his hopes, 
— to perceive that he is building on the sand, and 
that his pleasures perish in the using, — the value 
of such a discovery will be inestimably precious. 
The soul that ceases to cleave to earth, is taught 
of God to seek imperishable riches, — " a treasure 
in the heavens that faileth not ; where no thief ap- 
proacheth, neither moth corrupteth." And they 



Vlll PREFACE. 

that seek the joys that are at God's right hand, 
have the unfailing promise, that they shall find them. 
The water of life is free to all, and its, draught 
satisfies. 

And never let it be forgotten, that if we secure 
immortal blessedness, we shall have true enjoyment 
in the world besides ; but if we lose heaven's joy, 
we can possess no other that is worth the covet- 
ing. Thus real is inseparable from everlasting 
happiness. Joy is never dealt out by halves ; it is 
all, or none. If we accept of it, we shall have the 
full portion that never ends ; if we reject it, not 
one particle of pure bliss can even here be ours. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S DANGER FROM THE WORLD. 

Page. 
Different meanings of the Phrase, " the World," — In Scripture used to 
denote those who are opposed to godliness— The world and real Chris- 
tians opposed in thought, in action — Dispositions and actions of the 
worldly various — Impossibility of avoiding converse with the world — 
Danger from it— Christian's conduct towards the worldly, . . 13 



CHAPTER II. 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 

In what instances believers may be seduced to conform to worldly 
practices— Christians not inclined to flagrant sin— Danger of conformity 
in desire of applause— Fashion— Expense— Spending of time— Gaieties 
—Love of the world incompatible wtth Christianity . . . .29 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

The Sabbath misspent— Blessedness of the Institution— Manner in 
which the worldly spend it— Objection answered— Christians hail the 
return of the Sabbath— Topics that on that day pass under their review 
—Other duties of it— Connection between the Sabbath and the week- 
Rest in God— Temptations through intercourse with the world— Prayer 
recommended, 40 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER IV. 

RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY CONTRASTED 
WITH THE TRUE. 

Page* 
T Torld's religion without reference to the Bible — Consists in cold, un- 
mfiuential ceremony — Wordly ideas of morality— Selfishness — Perver- 
sions of religion — What it really is ; deeply seated in the heart ; eminently 
conspicuous ; unlimited in its influence — Religion of worldly confined — 
The true, universal in its effects — Searching questions — Why wonders of 
redemption wrought, 58 



CHAPTER V. 

THE YOUNG SHOWN WHERE TO FIND 
HAPPINESS. 

Ignorance of religion often in the well inclined among the young — 
They conceive of it as enthusiasm — To think thus not blameless — Youth 
attractive — The young addressed — Lord Chesterfield's testimony to the 
vanity of the world — Extract of a letter to him from Voltaire — That re- 
ligion is gloomy, contradicted by fact — Clementine Cuvier : Hannah Sin- 
clair — Striking contrast between the happiness expressed by the religious, 
and the lack of it in the worldly— The young earnestly pled with, . 75 



CHAPTER VI 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

What is essential to salvation clearly revealed — Difficulties where there 
need be none — A sense of helplessness necessary — A sense of sin very 
encouraging — Receiving Christ — Salvation finished — For whom 1 those 
who desire it in whole — Believer discouraged by defect in sanctification 
— Address to the careless — Delay dangerous— Warfare commences 
with spiritual life, 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 

Page. 
Mankind by nature in a state of warfare with God— Christian's war- 
fare is with Satan — Strife with evil not natural to man — Actions of un- 
regenerated, evil— Characteristics of Christian's warfare -.—Much in 
earnest ; deep humility ; of an exterminating quality — Certainty of the 
result — Are we engaged in this warfare ? — Christian's should use their 
weapons— Redemption irrespective of any thing in us — This warfare 
shall cease, Ill 

CHAPTER VIII. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 

Christian's warfare shall end in peace — Change in believers more or 
less rapid — Their love of holiness — attributes of God incomprehensible ; 
love, light, holiness, life, eternal existence — Infinitude of God's excel- 
lencies—Christian's delight in God — Holiness and happiness inseparable 
—The desire of holiness given in order to its gratification — Holiness 
progressive — Do we feel that holiness and happiness are inseparable 1 — 
How are we affected towards its infinitude 7 — Heaven's bliss incon- 
ceivable, 128 



CHAPTER IX. 

. THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

Chief distinction between the worldly and religious— The soul must be 
formed for happiness ere it can receive it— Joy in God alone satisfying— 
Men of the world incapacitated to taste joy— This incapacity tends to, 
and is a capacity for, misery — consolatory thought to believers — Capacity 
for joy may be given where, for a time, little joy is experienced— This 
state seldom of long oontinuance — Christians should exert their capacity 
to taste joy— Affecting state of those who are destitute of it— It should 
be sought— Essential requisite of true joy, 145 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 

CHRISTIAN GRACES GIVEN TO BE USED. 

Page. 
All God's works manifestly with design— Design in the formation of 
the new man in Christ Jesus— Diligently to employ their talents, pressed 
upon Christians — Such as love, trust, abasement, ability to pray, to praise, 
to endure, to labour, to fight — By nature destitute of them all— Gift of 
Holy Spirit unspeakably valuable, and given to be exhibited to the praise 
of God's grace, » 16.1 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 



zens of heaven : accounted fools or madmen ; small number of their 
countrymen ; dread of contamination — These trials prove their decent 
— Consolatory to know that their heavenly origin must remain — Impos- 
sible altogether to efface the identity of countrymen— The Spirit's seal 
equally uneffaceable — Inquietudes in the way to heaven may well be 
borne — Evidence of citizenship in love of countrymen. . . . 11% 



CHAPTER XII. 

GROVELLING NATURE OF WORLDLINESS, 

The people of God and the worldly may know to which class they be- 
long—The worldly addressed— Reason and immortality distinguish man 
from the brute creation— Both profitless to the worldly — Infinite weight 
of eternity — Not from reason that a change in man can be anticipated— ? 
Christianity restores man to his primeval dignity — That we prize our im- 
mortality a test to judge of our state— The world placed in the balance 
against eternal joy and present peace, . 192 



THE WORLD'S RELIGION, &c. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S DANGER FROM THE WORLD. 



Different meanings of the phrase, The World— In Scripture used to denote 
those who are opposed to godliness — The world and real Christians op- 
posed in thought, in action — Dispositions and actions of the worldly vari- 
ous — Impossibility of avoiding converse with the world — Danger from it — 
Christians' conduct towards the worldly. 



M These are thy glorious works, Parent of good ! 
Almighty ! thine this universal frame, 
Thus wondrous fair ; thyself how wondrous then, 
Unspeakable ! who sitt'st above these heavens, 
To us invisible, or dimly seen 
In these, thy lowest works ; yet these declare 
Thy goodness beyond thought, and pow'r divine." 

The world, in the literal acceptation of the term, 
signifies the globe on which we dwell ; that spheric 
mass, composed of minerals and vegetables, which 
in our planetary system revolves round our sun, 
and in which God has placed his creature, Man. 
This residence, in which it is the good pleasure of 
the Deity that we should sojourn, is in every re- 
spect fitted to attract our reverential attention, and 
to call forth our love. The wonders and beauties 
that surround us, bearing, as they do, in legible 
characters, the impress of the hand which formed 

2 



14 THE CHRISTIAN'S DANGER 

them, demand the regard and the research of ra- 
tional and intelligent beings. 

With what incomparable grandeur and elegance 
is our world adorned ! Whether we ascend heights 
lofty as the Andes, or stoop to examine the tints 
which, in countless number and variegated hue, 
enliven the turf, or spring from the soil, — whether 
we view the flame which majestically rises from 
Vesuvius or Etna, or the blade which we tread be- 
neath our footsteps, — whether we behold the mag- 
nificence of the ocean's roll, or the beauteous paint- 
ing with which the tulip and the butterfly are 
arrayed, wonders far beyond created power to 
frame, transfix the gaze and charm the senses ! 
There is not a plant that lives unobserved in the 
desert, there is not a floweret that blooms unheed- 
ed in the vale, which wears not the stamp of the 
Great Creator's workmanship, and is not meet to 
exhibit His glory ! The garden and the forest, the 
stately oak and the delicate snow-drop, ice-clad 
regions and the burning plains of Hindoostan, all, 
all unite with universal voice in proclaiming, " the 
hand that made us is divine." 

The world, in this sense, therefore, is eminently 
calculated to excite our interest, and claim our ad- 
miration. " O Lord, how manifold are thy works,' ; 
said the Psalmist, " in wisdom hast thou made 
them all : the earth is full of thy riches." And 
every child of God views with peculiar delight the 



FROM THE WORLD. 15 

splendid fabric of the creation, knowing that it 
emanated from his best friend, and unwearied bene- 
factor. We naturally prize the workmanship of 
one who is dear to us ; and if in itself it is beauti- 
ful or estimable, we are proud to avow that he 
whom we value made it. And shall not the Chris- 
tian, who is related to the Almighty by a tie nearer 
and closer than any that is earthly, glory in the 
wonderful works of his covenant God, and with 
filial regard and humble gratitude, 

" Lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, 
And smiling say, My Father made them all. 
Are they not his by a peculiar right, 
And by an emphasis of int'rest his, 
Whose eye they fill with tears of holy joy, 
Whose heart with praise, and whose exalted mind 
With worthy thoughts of that unwearied love 
That plann'd, and built, and still upholds a world 
So clothed with beauty for rebellious man?" 

There are, however, other meanings distinct 
from that of the earth which we inhabit, that are 
attached to the phrase, the world, and which, from 
general usage, have become familiar to us. It is 
frequently employed to designate a portion of man- 
kind. Thus we hear of the world of taste, the 
world of fashion, the literary world, or other simi- 
lar appellations, which are intended to denote a 
part or division of the human race. Or men of the 
world are spoken of, by which is intended that class 
of persons who are most conversant with general 
customs and practices. Or the expression, the 
opinions of the world, is used to signify those sen- 



16 THE CHRISTIAN'S BANGER 

timents and ideas that are received and adopted by 
the majority who take a lead in its concerns. We 
likewise hear of the Christian world, and the world, 
as opposed to what is peculiarly Christian. In the 
latter sense, we find the expression adopted by 
Christ himself. " I pray not for the world but for 
them which thou hast given me. The world hath 
hated them because they are not of the world, even 
even as I am not of the world."* " If the world 
hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated 
you."f In this meaning of the term, the world has 
ever been the source of temptation and trial to the 
children of God ; and it is in this sense that the 
apostle John warns the Christian converts not to 
"love the world, neither the things that are in the 
world."* 

From these texts of Scripture, and others of 
similar import, it is evident, that there is something 
inimical to the life of godliness in holding much 
intercourse with the larger proportion of men, or 
according to the phrase in general use, the world. 
Every Christian feels, that to be much in the so- 
ciety of worldly characters is an impediment to 
his religious progress, and those who are necessi- 
tated to be so are frequently more or less injured 
by it. There is a contrariety in the desires and 
sentiments which prevail in the heart of the world- 

* John xvii. 9-14. t John xv. 18. X 1 John ii. 15. 



FROM THE WORLD. 17 

ly professor, to those principles and affections that 
religion enjoins, which leads to the result we would 
deprecate. And a deadening and destructive in- 
fluence on that new life which believers inherit, is 
consequent on associating much with the people in 
whom this dissimilarity exists. 

It may scarcely be necessary to observe, that 
real Christians, and the world, as opposed to them 
in principle, live in a totally different range of 
thought ; the one having their expectations of hap- 
piness chiefly placed in a future state, the other as 
having little hope beyond the present scene. The 
enjoyments of worldlings end with life ; they have 
no realizing apprehension of aught that is to fol- 
low, when death has done its office. Their minds 
scarcely ever contemplate the prospect when the 
things of time shall cease. They give themselves 
no concern to solve the all-important questions, — 
" What shall be my fate when I am no longer the 
inhabitant of this earth ? Is the soul immortal ? 
and, Where shall it exist for ever ?" To watch 
what may escape from them in conversation re- 
garding futurity, one might be inclined to imagine, 
that they considered it of no consequence whether 
there is another state of existence, or whether they 
shall perish with the brutes ; for all their desires 
relate to time and its vanities. Talk to them of 
the happiness of heaven, and it will be very evi- 
dent that they can conceive of no pleasure there, 

2* 



18 THE CHRISTIANAS DANGER 

for it is with marked impatience that they can be 
brought to listen to such a theme, which they visi- 
bly show, in their apprehension, carries gloom 
along with it. And even when sick or dying, and 
thus incapacitated for relishing earth's best gifts, tell 
them that joys which never end are offered to their 
acceptance, and the listless, apathetic look, and ap- 
parent distaste for the subject, betray the truth that 
they conceive not of joy beyond the grave. 

How exceedingly different are their emotions 
when any piece of intelligence relating to worldly 
prosperity is communicated to them ! Inform them 
that they have succeeded to an estate, — that they 
have been successful in a speculation, — that their 
children are likely to be prosperously settled in 
life, — or even give them hopes of such earthly good, 
and it will be easy to discern, that in their view, 
happiness must ensue from the possession of these 
things. Their desires centre in the world, and from 
it alone they expect profit or pleasure. Nay, to 
take the extreme case before mentioned, on a death- 
bed, when it might be supposed the vanity of all 
that is terrestrial would become evident, informa- 
tion on worldly concerns seems more to affect and 
interest them, than the near approach of that un- 
changeable state to which they are hastening ! It 
appears as if, in their estimation, there is reality in 
present things, something certain, and within their 
grasp ; whereas that which is spoken of the joys 



FROM THE WORLD. 19 

of heaven, is by them conceived to be illusive and 
visionary, a blessedness of which they have no 
idea, for which they are not prepared, and do not 
entertain a wish. 

Completely the reverse of such sentiments are 
those, which, by the spirit of God, are imparted to 
the believer in Jesus. His highest good is not 
sought for among the perishable contingencies of 
time. He never can repose on joy so fleeting. 
Earth's gifts do, indeed, call forth his unfeigned 
gratitude to Him who bestows them, and often they 
promote his pleasure and comfort ; but he cannot, 
and he would not, rest on that which is not calcu- 
lated to impart lasting peace. Rest, did we say ? 
The gifts of earth are here to-day and gone to- 
morrow. There is no stability in the prop they 
afford ; while we lean upon them they fail ! And 
neither is there satisfaction to be found in the 
world's good ; for an abundant measure of it we 
might possess, and still remain miserable ; or hap- 
py, we might be, although deprived of it all ! The 
Christian, therefore, seeks a treasure that is du- 
rable, secure, abiding, satisfying. Hoping for, and 
receiving that blessedness which it is only in the 
power of the Deity to confer, he sits loose to the tri- 
fles of a day. God is his portion, " of all his gifts 
Himself the crown ;" and in Him the believer in- 
herits, through sovereign grace, fulness of unending 
joy. 



20 THE CHRISTIANAS DANGER 

The distinction between the child of God and 
the worldly professor, is not, however, merely con- 
fined to thought, but leads to a totally different line 
of conduct. In every description of worldly char- 
acters, we see all that they do has reference to 
present things ; to make the most of the world, 
being naturally the first consideration with the in- 
dividuals who only expect enjoyment from it. And, 
according to the diversified inclinations and tastes 
of the world's votaries, will be their manner of 
life. 

The dispositions of this division of mankind are 
quite as various as those of any other class ; what 
is pleasure to one, being much the reverse to ano- 
ther. The amassing of riches is the delight of 
some w r orldlings, to attain which object any sacri- 
fice seems desirable. They will "rise early, and 
sit up late, and eat the bread of sorrow," if by any 
means they can add to their store, and increase 
that for which they have in fact no use, nor any 
intention of using. And the prodigal expending of 
wealth in luxury or amusement — possibly in vice 
— appears to constitute the happiness of others, 
who, with equally little reason, can place their en- 
joyment in what is ruinous to their temporal inter- 
ests, and take pleasure in what necessarily leads to 
misery, even here. There are some with whom 
fame is the chief good coveted, — that capricious 
breath, which, little w r orth, " reports a truth or pub- 



FROM THE WORLD, 21 

lishes a lie." To procure this bauble, toil seems 
easy and labour sweet. With how much cost of 
health and of self-denying effort, is reputation often 
sought in ways exceedingly diversified, and in gra- 
dations rising from the wild effusions of the moun- 
tebank orator, to the patient research of the man 
of science, or the course of the statesman and the 
warrior. — But there are to be found among the 
worldly, some of an amiable temper of mind, with 
whom the applause of their fellow-men is not the 
first consideration. These commonly look for sat- 
isfaction in their families, and in the domestic cir- 
cle. To them, what is connected with their pri- 
vate affairs or near relatives, is their first, their only 
thought, and on such concerns they bestow their 
time and their hopes. In so far as this line of 
conduct conduces to the well-being of others or 
themselves, without being injurious to those around 
them, it is commendable ; but there is one great 
defect in these characters, — God is forgotten. 
They live for the world; it is something earthly 
alone which they prize, and for this they labour. 

Thus, whatever it may be, it is the world, in 
some shape, that the worldly covet, and their an- 
ticipations of happiness from it lead to the conduct 
they pursue. They will toil with infinite assiduity, 
and submit to any deprivation, to acquire the short- 
lived earthly good to which their propensities tend. 
From the cradle to the grave they seem insensible 



22 the christian's danger 

to the value of any part of their existence, except 
that which they are to spend as mortals, and they 
cling to life as that on which their hopes termi- 
nate. 

Now, these are the individuals with whom the 
Christian must associate. It is no matter of choice 
whether or not he shall dwell w T ith them, — they are 
around him in every rank and sphere, — they are to 
be found in every circle, and to avoid holding con- 
verse with them is impossible. They are justly 
termed the World, for we must leave it, would we 
leave them. 

It becomes, therefore, matter of serious consid- 
eration to the renewed in heart, how they ought to 
conduct themselves towards the people of the 
world, and in how far it is their duty to conform to 
its customs and practices. 

There is undoubtedly danger when much in the 
society of such persons, that the believer's natural, 
grovelling, earthly propensities may revive. We 
have an ally in our own breasts ready to confeder- 
ate with the world, and prone to take delight in its 
enjoyments. And, although the Christian's affec- 
tions are fixed, without the possibility of final 
change, on heaven, and heaven's Lord, and are not 
tabe satisfied with the toys of sense, yet, where 
those with whom he associates are engrossed by 
earth's vanities, there is something infectious in 
the spirit, and the impression may be lessened that 



FROM THE WORLD. 23 

his " life is hid with Christ in God." Say, believ- 
ing soul, have you not felt it so ? Having been 
much with worldly men, can you, with the same 
fervency of spirit, delight yourself with God ; and 
can you, with equal earnestness, desire communion 
with him ? And even in the retirement of the 
closet, does not the effect of the society you have 
left follow you, deadening the heart to religion, and 
withering the lively perception of its blessedness ? 
Yes, it is thus. Association with characters so 
little congenial, tends to foster luke-warmness in 
devotion, and all its fatal consequences. 

But, if to associate with the worldly be una- 
voidable, (and perhaps entirely to shun this society 
may not consist with the Christian's duty,) the line 
of conduct which he pursues respecting them, 
must be of the utmost importance, so as on the one 
hand to avoid needless singularity ; and on the 
other, to escape the hurtful effects that would en- 
sue from a too ready compliance with practices, 
the tendency of which is to injure the life of God- 
liness. 

There is much that may verge towards a com- 
pliance with worldly maxims and usages, for which 
many specious inducements are held out. With 
an appearance of truth it may be argued, that thus 
we shall throw no unnecessary gloom over the re- 
ligion we profess, but shall exhibit it in a more 
inviting form ; and, it may be, disrobe it in some 



24 the christian's dangee 

degree, of what, to the characters of whom we 
write, is repulsive and forbidding. Ah ! no ; be- 
liever in Jesus, the religion of the heart ever was, 
and ever will be, distasteful, uncongenial, hateful, 
to those who know it not. " The carnal mind is 
enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law 
of God, neither indeed can be." — But, again, it is 
urged, that if we cannot allure by concession in 
minor points, we, at least, avoid giving offence, and 
that in matters of trifling importance it is often a 
duty to yield. If, indeed, the matter be unimpor- 
tant, concession may become a duty, remembering 
the Apostle's example, who " was made all things 
to all men, that he might gain some." But, let us 
ever bear in mind, that no transgression of the law 
of God is of little moment. On this the question 
hinges. What do the oracles of the Supreme dic- 
tate, compliance or the reverse 1 — Say not the mat- 
ter is trifling; nothing is so which God ordains, or 
God forbids. This should be the ordeal by which 
to test whatever may seem doubtful. The path of 
duty becomes plain where Scripture is the guide. 
But some genuine Christian may here be ready 
to say, that by concession he fervently hopes to be 
essentially useful to a dear friend or relative, who, 
it is the grief of his heart to know, is deeply pre- 
judiced against the truth as it is in Jesus. Un- 
doubtedly there is no case in which it is more 
requisite that the believer should walk circum- 



FROM THE WORLD. 25 

spectly than this one, taking heed by meekness, 
kindness, and forbearance, to remove, if it be pos- 
sible, the false impression that rests on the mind 
of him he would benefit. But we would entreat 
him to recollect, that there is a line of separation 
which must be passed, ere he and a character so 
opposite, can assimilate. One or the other must 
yield; and by yielding, Christian, you at least 
tacitly avow that your side is the weakest, and that 
your sentiments are of the least importance. And, 
can you be content that any with whom you are 
connected, or who are dear to you, should think 
thus of the minutest part of your religious prac- 
tice ? In ordinary concerns, do we find the more 
probable way to incline others to follow our exam- 
ple in any mode of life, is to abandon that line of 
conduct ourselves ? No ; it has become proverbial 
that " example goes further than precept," and per- 
severance in what we do is absolutely necessary, 
would we wish to influence the actions of those 
around us. Believe it, Christian, it is decision, not 
compromise, that is the method most likely to 
awaken, and to win the unconverted soul. When 
those whom you anxiously desire to profit, see you 
firm, consistent, unbending, where the law of God 
is concerned, they will be persuaded that you be- 
lieve what you say, when you act in conformity to 
your profession ; and this persuasion will do more 
to arouse them from their dream of security, and 

3 



26 the christian's danger 

to incline them to consideration and inquiry, than 
any other means which it is in your power to 
adopt. 

Examine, then, diligently, and deeply weigh the 
momentous consideration, What is, and what is 
not, at variance with your religious principles ? 
And having ascertained that the religion of Christ 
inculcates any duty however generally neglected, 
or forbids any practice however universally fol- 
lowed, hesitate not implicitly to obey its require- 
ments, nor swerve an iota from the straight line, 
were the only end you had in view to benefit your 
brethren of mankind. 

Conversion is, indeed, the work of God, but it 
is frequently effected by probable means, and often 
by means of the persevering endeavours and ear- 
nest prayers of His children. Yet never can they 
hope for the agency of the blessed Spirit to crown 
their efforts with success, if they are accompanied 
by a departure, however minute, from the precepts 
the Scriptures enjoin. The smallest transgression 
of the law is sin ; and sin cannot be the instru- 
ment God employs as the medium of leading the 
unconcerned to the Saviour. Yield, believer, to 
the wishes of those you would benefit in any thing, 
in every thing, excepting where the injunctions of 
Christ are contrary. Regarding these, let your 
practice be stable as the foundation from whence 
it flows. " The law of the Lord altereth not :" it 



FROM THE WORLD. 27 

is established on this unchangeable basis, the holi- 
ness of Jehovah. It is your joy, Christian, to 
believe in its stability, and to perform its require- 
ments ; and let your heart exult in the assurance, 
that at all times, and in every possible condition, 
to obey this law is no less your duty than your in- 
terest, and can in no circumstance or relation of 
life in which you may be placed, be otherwise. 



CHAPTER II. 

WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 



In what instances believers may be seduced to conform to worldly practices 
— Christians not inclined to flagrant sin — Danger of conformity in desire of 
applause — Fashion — Expense — Spending of time — Gaieties— Love of the 
world incompatible with Christianity. 



" For on earth 
Who against faith and conscience can be heard 
Infallible 7 Yet many will presumed 

It may be useful to investigate more minutely 
the subject that has been discussed in the preced- 
ing chapter, to bring it home to ourselves, and to 
examine, in the daily occurrences of life, in what 
particular instances true Christians are more espe- 
cially tempted to conform to the customs and usages 
which prevail among the worldly. 

Before doing so we may remark, that believers 
are not inclined to the commission of any flagrant 
transgression of God's law. There is an opposi- 
tion in the heart that is renewed by His Spirit, to 
all that is " earthly, sensual, devilish." We are 
told by an apostle, that those who have obtained 
the precious faith of the Gospel* are by it made 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 29 

partakers of a divine nature, having escaped the 
corruption that is in the world through lust.* The 
flesh does indeed lust against the Spirit, but the 
Spirit likewise lusteth against the flesh, and is con- 
trary to it. With the new birth there is a repug- 
nance implanted to all evil. What is offensive to 
God is odious to him in whom faith dwells. And 
to commit sin is not the natural bent of that new life 
which Christ imparts, the desires and affections of 
which are decidedly and directly opposed to it. 

Therefore, in adverting to the risk there exists 
of a believer in Jesus adopting the practices of 
worldly professors, it should be distinctly under- 
stood, that notorious sin is not that against which 
we here desire especially to warn him. If he is 
betrayed, through the remainder of corruption which 
lurks in his breast, into open transgression of God's 
law, it must be the source of unfeigned grief to his 
soul, and can never be unknown to him. Whereas 
the dereliction of duty to which we refer,is of thecha- 
racter alluded to by the Prophet Hosea, " Strangers 
have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not ; 
yea, grey hairs are here and there upon him, yet 
he knoweth it not."t It is something blamewor- 
thy, that may be practised unthinkingly, — is often 
an almost imperceptible leaning towards what is 
amiss. It may be done from the desire or mis- 

* 2 Peter i. 4. t Hosea vii. 9. 

3* 



30 WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE, 

taken intention of doing right, and is scarcely ever 
fairly and openly admitted by the Christian himself 
to be wrong. Were he, as in the sight of God, to 
sift the matter impartially, conviction of the truth 
could not fail to be the result ; but this he does not, 
deeming the subject, in all likelihood, unimportant, 
and thus he errs, where, possibly, he is not aware 
of being defective,- and, it maybe, least suspects it. 

In what especial instances, then, is a wakeful 
attention and jealous guard incumbent on the 
Christian, would he exhibit the life of godliness in 
all its purity, uncontaminated not merely by open 
sin, but by the practices and maxims which abound 
in the world, and which are indispensable if we ex- 
amine them by the religion of Christ ! 

There is an universal characteristic among the 
worldly, which is contagious in its nature, and very 
detrimental to the life of godliness,- — we allude 
to the desire of human applause and distinction. 
The false estimate they entertain of earthly things, 
in making them their chief good, induces the at- 
tempt, which is so general among such persons, by 
some means to be distinguished and admired. This 
wish to rise above their compeers may be detected 
in every sphere and degree ; and although, accord- 
ing to the line in life, its effects may be seen some- 
what different, the ambition, in the highest and the 
lowest rank, to eclipse others, is the same. Why 
are princes courted, and why is the company of 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. &1 

the great and the noble so frequently sought ? It 
is not that there is any love inherent in man for 
those of exalted rank and quality, or that there is 
any desire natural to us to do them service ; but it 
is that the inferior, as satellites, may revolve around 
and shine with them. To what can we ascribe 
the eagerness for display that pervades all circles 
in worldly society ; the splendour with which the 
houses, the tables, the equipages, and the persons 
of the great are adorned ; and the equally solicitous 
attempt to copy, in their measure, that to which 
they cannot attain, which the subordinate exhibit ? 
We can alone trace this turn of mind, which is so 
common among men, to the desire of being thus 
honoured and distinguished. And where is the 
class in which there are not some who have attain- 
ed this fancied superiority ? who lord it over others, 
and to whom the right, as matter of course, is ceded ? 
In every little circle there are the great men, and 
the aspiring group who imitate them, — those who 
lead, and those who follow. 

How important is the sentence which the audi- 
tors of fashion award to the most successful candi- 
date for their favour ! How arbitrary is their deci- 
sion ! to which the worldly, in every station of life, 
bow. For fashion is not confined to the frivolous 
order, who exclusively claim to rank within its 
limits ; it embraces a wide range, and adapts its 
laws to each grade, and to all denominations of men. 



32 WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 

And what is fashion ? A vapour, a whim, which 
has no more solid foundation than the bubbles that 
rise but to break. It is, without an assignable 
reason, that which pleases some to adopt ; and, 
without any rational motive, what others must 
therefore copy. Yet this phantom is the idol the 
world worships, and the desire of distinction is that 
which prompts to the follies, — may they not often 
merit a harsher term ?— for which fashion is fre- 
quently made the pretext. And the wish for the 
envious regard of the many, or, it may be, of the 
select few whose notice is considered worth the 
engaging, more than any other cause, conduces to 
form the characters of whom we write 

And is there no hazard, Christian, that in the 
society of such persons, you will imbibe somewhat 
of their spirit ? Is there no latent desire ever to be 
detected in your bosom for distinction, for display, 
for the pleasures and the follies of the world ? No 
tinder which is ready to kindle when the flame is 
near? No predisposition to catch the malady w T ith 
which others are infected, that may render the 
tainted atmosphere the more dangerous ? Would 
to God it were not so ! — that at all times, and in 
every circumstance, the believing soul could rise 
superior to what is earthly; breathe, as it were, 
purer air ; feel as on the confines of a nobler state 
of existence ; and next to inhabit celestial regions ! 
But all who have known the power of godliness 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 33 

will sorrowfully confess, that however much this 
may be their desire, that however at favoured mo- 
ments it may be their attainment, yet the world is 
a snare and a stumbling-block in their path, that 
when necessitated to mix in its society, their in- 
ability is increased to " do the things that they 
would." 

It is necessary, however, to be more specific, 
and to explain the worldly practices to which we 
allude, and against which we would guard our 
Christian brethren. Is that, then, never expended 
by the believer in Jesus, in worldly gratifications, 
which might have been devoted to the glory of his 
Redeemer, and to benefit mankind ? And is he 
careful to redeem from superfluous indulgences, 
what might be appropriated to purposes so valua- 
ble ? We mean not that those blessings which his 
heavenly Father has given him, consequent, per- 
haps, on the sphere in which he is placed, should 
by him be relinquished, and not received with 
thankfulness. This would be to reverse the order 
of things, and the intention of Providence, and 
cannot be a duty incumbent on any one. There 
is, however, little need for warning here ; for, with 
scarcely an exception, all are disposed to accept 
and to use the bounties God has bestowed upon 
them. But we allude to the usual concomitants of 
a worldly spirit ; the decoration, the splendour, the 
pride of life, in which the rich of this class indulge, 



34 WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 

and for which the poorer classes among them strive. 
Every man, without difficulty, may judge for him- 
self, whether an ambition to shine is productive in 
him of an elegance of embellishment, which, if not 
greater than his circumstances may warrant, is at 
least greater than religion permits. Cannot we 
discriminate between that which our heavenly 
Father designs we should enjoy, and those extrava- 
gancies which are only calculated to attract the 
gaze and the envy of our fellow-men ? Cannot we 
distinguish between what is reasonable in itself, 
and essential to our comfort, and what bears the 
stamp of earth's gaudy show, and the glitter of the 
world's parade ? He that would lead a life of holi- 
ness mus't not allow the suspicion, however ground- 
less, to be attached to him, that he seeks by vain- 
glorious display the admiring glance of the multi- 
tude. His whole demeanour should evidence, that 
the pomps and vanities of life have, in his view, 
lost their power to charm ; and a doubt should 
never be allowed to arise in the breast of an indi- 
vidual, that the Christian's heart and treasure are 
in heaven. And there in truth they are. The 
mind of a believer is not constituted like that of the 
mere worldly professor ; and if he is led inadver- 
tently to adopt what others practise, on calm reflec- 
tion his better judgment regards the folly in its just 
light, and his genuine inclinations renounce the 
world in whatever shape its temptations may allure. 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 35 

Yes, the new nature which he has received from 
God, maintains the ascendency in him over all that 
is earthly, and proof shall not be wanting, in his 
general conduct, that the world is a vanquished 
foe. 

The manner in which time is spent is another 
form in which the practices of the worldly are 
ready to delude. Time is a talent bestowed upon 
us for very valuable purposes. It is short-lived 
and fleeting. We are commanded to redeem it. 
A few, a very few, days or years are given us, that 
we may improve them for the benefit of our fellow- 
men while here, and that we may prepare for that 
better country, to participate in the joys of which 
the Christian is formed. The worldly make no 
account of the invaluable boon, unless as it is the 
medium of increasing their wealth, or of affording 
them enjoyment by the various methods in which 
they take delight. No thought of responsibility 
ever occurs to them for the way in which their time 
is spent, — no thought of the consequences of mis- 
pending it ever obtrudes. If there is nothing ab- 
solutely wicked in what they do, in their opinion 
all is well. Thus, hour after hour is frittered away 
in what is useless, at least, as it respects eternity ; 
and when time with them shall cease, there will be 
no portion of it to which they can refer, as the 
period when God was sought and heaven won. 

A believer in Jesus, it is true, cannot, in these 



36 WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 

respects, resemble the worldly ; and yet even he 
may learn, from example, a careless, trifling frame, 
which would seem little to appreciate the value of 
his flying years. He may do something, and yet 
much less than he might, for the cause of God, the 
interests of his own soul, and the souls of others. 
He, too, may seemingly forget that responsibility 
attaches to him for the manner in which his days 
are passed, and, for a period at least, it may require 
a nice discernment to distinguish, in this point, be- 
tween the disciple of Christ and the ungodly. May 
not a believer be tempted to prolong seasons of 
amusement, in themselves perhaps innocent, till 
the waste of time renders them guilty ? Nay, far- 
ther may he not be tempted, by intercourse with 
the worldly, to join in amusements which are un- 
doubtedly hurtful, and of which, on considering 
the subject he would decidedly disapprove ? There 
are entertainments in which it is difficult to con- 
vince the worldly (to use their own phrase,) there 
can be any harm. They will attend them nearly 
at each successive return of the hours usually de- 
voted to repose, thus turning night into day, and 
often impairing their health and sinking their spirit, 
and yet inquire wherein is the harm ? We have 
been amusingly asked, did the evil of evening en- 
tertainments consist in the lights ? But let such 
characters become seriously impressed with reli- 
gion, and they will soon detect where the harm lies. 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 37 

They will then learn to prize time as a precious 
gift, and they will experience, that to redeem it is 
impossible, if the night be devoted to folly, and 
perhaps half the day to sleep. Were there no 
other reason that could be advanced, to prove that 
the gaieties of life are indefensible on Christian 
principles than the waste of time, this alone were 
sufficient. 

But there is a stronger motive to deter a child 
of God from joining in the midnight assembly, — 
the incompatibility of such practices with devotion. 
The attempt need only be made, and conviction 
must ensue, that to raise the heart to the Divine 
Being, in prayer or praise, shortly before, or soon 
after mixing with the giddy throng, is scarcely 
possible ; that the Word of Inspiration, if then 
read, becomes like a sealed book ; that at such a 
time its lessons cease to instruct, and its promises 
to comfort. And thus the devotional duties of the 
evening and of the morning become, if performed 
at all, but lip service, and the soul is defrauded of 
its spiritual meals. 

And can the Christian consent to this ? Will 
he compound to possess the world's pleasures, and 
to lose those for which he is athirst ? It cannot 
be. He that knows the joy of communion with 
God, feels that emptiness is inscribed on earth's 
gay scenes, — that even were they not detrimental 
to him, they are tasteless and worthless. But he 

4 



38 WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 

likewise experiences that, yielding no satisfaction 
in themselves, they rob him of the pure delights 
which satisfy ; that they give him nothing and take 
all ; that, falsely called pleasure, they deprive him 
of its reality. 

It has, however, been observed, that the Chris- 
tian may be so circumstanced, as to be induced to 
join in such circles, or that he may do so from in- 
consideration. We should be sorry to denounce 
all as unbelievers who are to be found in the 
world's gay assemblies. Very differently situated 
are the disciples of Christ, and of the trials to 
which a portion of them are exposed, the rest, pos- 
sibly ? have no conception. The manner in which 
they have been educated, may lead some believers 
to view such scenes in a more favorable light, and 
to conceive of them as innocent ; and necessity 
may oblige others to be much more in all sorts of 
worldly society than their inclinations dictate. Yet, 
let it be distinctly understood, that the inclination 
of the Christian can never go with him, if he joins 
in the gaieties of the world. In such fellowship a 
spiritual mind cannot take pleasure ; and sooner or 
later the believer in Jesus w r ill discover, that 
worldly society is the bane of his religion, and is 
destructive of his peace. Therefore he will shun 
that intercourse, if it is in his power to do so, 
which he finds is opposed to his eternal interests, 
and to his truest joy. Should any professing 



WORLDLINESS IN PRACTICE. 39 

Christian, into whose hands these pages may fall, 
feel in himself a wish to form excuses for a com- 
pliance with w r orldly practices, which he may 
without difficulty avoid, let him recollect that thus 
he shows decided symptoms of a worldly spirit, 
which is completely inimical to real religion. Let 
him examine, without delay, the grounds of his 
hope, and the sincerity of his profession, nor rest 
satisfied till it is evidenced, by the heavenliness of 
his desires, and his separation in heart, and, in his 
case, in conduct, from the world. And let him re- 
member that it is written, " If any man love the 
world, the love of the Father is not in him."* 
These are the words of inspiration ; therefore, 
however propensities to delight in the gaieties of 
time may be palliated before men, nothing can be 
more certain, than that equally with open sin, they 
mark a man unrenewed in the spirit of his mind, 
and unconverted to God. 

* 1 John, ii. 15. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



The Sabbath misspent — Blessedness of the institution-- Manner in which 
tbe Worldly spend it — Objection answered — Christians hail the return of 
the Sabbath— Topics that on that day pass under their review — Other 
duties of it — Connection between the Sabbath and the Week — Rest in 
God — Temptations through intercourse with the world — Prayer recom- 
mended. 



" It is not only in the sacred fane 
That homage should be paid to the Most H$gh, — 
There is a temple, one not made with bauds, 
The vaulted firmament : Far in the woods 
Almost beyond the sound of city chime, 
At intervals, heard through the breezeless air, 
When not the limberest leaf is seen to move, 
Save where the linnet lights upon the spray ; 
Where not a riow'ret bends its little stalk, 
Save where the bee alights upon the bloom ; 
There wrapt in gratitude, in joy, and love, 
The man of God will pass the Sabbath noon; 
Silence his praise : iiis disembodied thoughts, 
Loos'd from the load of words, will high ascend 
Beyond the empyreal. " 

In noticing how time is lavished by the worldly, 
it would be unpardonable to omit a portion of it 
which they uniformly misspend, in direct opposi- 
tion to the revealed will of God, — we allude to the 
manner in which they pass the Sabbath. A sev- 
enth part of our time, the Great Lawgiver has 
apportioned to himself; in it Ave are commanded 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 41 

o rest. from worldly employments and amusements: 
nd the worship of God, and making preparation 
for eternity, we are informed, is to constitute its 
peculiar business. Were this law arbitrary, and 
could we discern no reason for its promulgation 
but God so wills it, still, as the creatures of his 
hand, we should be bound to obedience. But, 
truly, " the Sabbath was made for man ;" our in- 
terest and our duty were never more clos r ' urited 
than in the keeping of this divine law. It is or- 
dained to gild our earthly pilgrimage with a few 
-ays of celestial light, ft is that day in which 
God designs, and has pledged himself to bestow 
his best gifts on mankind. In every season, and 
it all times, he gives grace and glory, and with- 
holds no good thing from them who walk upright- 
ly : but on this day, he profusely matters blessed- 
ness ; and redemption with all its fruits, and heaven 
with all its joys, are, on it, pressed upon our ac- 
cepl in \ud whether in the closet, or in the 

Ban I lis believing* people can unite their 

testi;. , that God "blessed the Sabbath day." 

And how is this part of their time generally 
spent by worldly men ? There are some of this 
character who make no pretense to religion, who 
pay no attention to its sacred rites, and who pro- 
fess themselves regardless of its services. These 
persons make it sufficiently plain, that they are 
not the followers of Christ. They declare as era- 

•r 



42 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

phatically as if they uttered it in words, that they 
will not reverence the Sabbath-day. In them the 
Christian cannot be deceived, and, therefore, from 
their example there is the less danger. 

But there are others, who avow themselves dis- 
posed to serve God, and to respect the institutions 
of the gospel, yet whose religion is confined to a 
few external acts, the principal of which is the at- 
tendance on public worship during some part of 
the Sabbath. By their conduct we should be in- 
clined to imagine, that they conceived the fourth 
commandment enjoined little else than once or 
twice, on the return of the sacred day, to meet to- 
gether in the house of prayer, so completely are 
its remaining hours robbed of their sanctity. Were 
the full extent of the injunction, to remember the 
ordinances of religion to keep them holy, they 
would outwardly act in conformity to it ; this, 
however, seems all that they are disposed to allow 
the precept requires ; and an entire day to be de- 
voted to religious exercises is quite beyond their 
reckoning. 

Perhaps we may be told that, in other respects, 
they observe the Sabbath-day. That on it their 
dependants do no laborious work. That on this 
day those occupations, of which the chief object 
is to amuse, are laid aside. That the song or the 
dance, they conceive to be incompatible with its 
requirements. That their instruments of music 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 43 

are silent; and the chase, and the field, or the 
cards and the dice, are, on this day, not resorted 
to. 

Happy it is for Britain, truly, that these and 
similar amusements and vanities, are frequently 
deemed, even by the worldly, incompatible with 
the design of the Sabbath ! Happy is it for high- 
ly favoured Scotland, that there, in an especial 
manner, the line of distinction in outward decency 
of conduct between the Sabbath and the rest of 
the week, cannot be encroached upon with impu- 
nity ! To our excellent legislature we are in part 
indebted for these proprieties ; and partly to ihe 
influence of a religious principle, even where it 
does not exist in its genuine power, consequent on 
the full blaze of Christian light with which our 
land is blessed. 

But, let us not be deceived by these fair appear- 
ances ; with the exception already noticed, of the 
short time that public worship, or, it may be, the 
reading of some devotional treatise occupies, it is 
only by changing one worldly employment for an- 
other, that the greater proportion of this class 
observe the hallowed day. There are, in fact, 
privileged acts which are considered by them al- 
lowable, and not to be condemned as contrary to 
the spirit of the Sabbath. To these they gladly 
resort; and while visiting their friends, reading 
newspapers, writing letters, and many other unne- 



44 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH* 

cessary concerns, conceive that they are entitled 
to be exempted from all censure. From what au- 
thority it is deduced that these deeds are allowable, 
we are at a loss to determine. 

There are, in some instances, nice shades of 
discrimination drawn between the Sabbath's law- 
ful and forbidden occupations, according to the 
creed of this class of men. Vehicles of all de- 
scriptions, for instance, seem, as it were, licensee 
to be in constant requisition for recreation on the 
Sabbath in some circles, where, nevertheless, the 
same profanation of its sacred hours in the barge 
or the yacht, would not be deemed admissible. 
We are glad that a restriction exists in any case, 
but why it should be confined to the one more than 
A o the other, remains to be explained. Or, to 
spend the Sabbath in secular business, is justly be- 
lieved to be a dereliction of duty, by some worldly 
men, who do not, however, scruple to devote it to 
travelling or company, thereby depriving others, 
as well as themselves, of the benefits arising from 
its institution. 

And here we may anticipate the reply that has 
so often been made to such animadversions : That 
it is impossible to devote the whole day to reli- 
gion ; and that, therefore, the commandment must 
be understood with limitation. True it is, that 
creatures depraved in heart, and prone to evil, can- 
not keep this, or any other divine law perfectly ; 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 45 

and, having done our best, we are still unprofitable 
servants, and deficient and worthless is our obedi- 
ence. How are our religious services defiled by 
distraction of thought, by worldliness of mind, by 
defectiveness in practice ! Yet, there is a possi- 
bility of obeying this commandment in such a 
manner as God will in mercy accept ; and, that the 
souls which he has formed, will thereby grow in 
assimilation to himself, and in mectness for that 
heavenly inheritencc which aw r aits the children of 
his kingdom. There is such a thing as " not doing 
our own ways, nor finding our own pleasure, nor 
speaking our own words on this holy day, but call- 
ing the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, 
and honourable." 

Thus the believing disciples of Jesus desire and 
aim to pass these hallowed hours ; and amidst the 
failure which is inseparable from our fallen state, 
thus, by the grace of God, in some measure they 
do spend the sabbath-day. On it the ordinances 
of religion are by them observed, not as meritorious 
acts entitling them to the favour of the Most High. 
but as appointed means, which, when divinely 
blessed, enrich the soul with spiritual life. Far 
from conceiving of the Sabbath as burdensome, 
they hail its return as a privilege, knowing that it 
is designed to bring them nearer to their chief good. 
To seek after God is as natural to an awakened 
mind as it is for the weary to seek for repose, or 



46 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

the famished for food. Like these, the Christian 
feels his necessity. How much to be desired, then, 
is that day, when he is more especially invited to 
obtain relief. On it other needful cares may war- 
rantably be laid aside, and he rejoices to be justifi- 
ed in dropping earth's solicitudes for a time, and 
in looking more fixedly on his heavenly hopes, and 
yielding himself more unreservedly to heavenly 
employments. 

Various are the topics which pass under his re- 
view in public and in private on the Sabbath-day, 
but one subject runs throughout, and is connected 
with them all, the incomprehensible greatness of 
redeeming love ! United with this, he fears not to 
see the impurity with which his nature is stained, 
and the deformity of his best, his immortal part, 
for with the bane he beholds the antidote. United 
with this, the burden of sorrow is lessened ; and 
through the darkest shades of his earthly pilgrim- 
acre light shines. United with this, death is robbed 
of its sting, and the grave of its victory. They 
are disarmed of power to hurt, and are transformed 
(thanks be to God) into blessings ! Wondrous love . 
whence does it originate ? — Not in the creature, for 
there is nothing in us to excite it. " All together 
are become filthy : there is none that doeth good, no, 
not one." But hear, O heavens, and give ear, O 
earth ; let the sound vibrate from shore to shore, 
love of Jehovah to his redeemed people origi- 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 47 

nates in Himself. " I have loved thee with an 
everlasting love ; therefore, with loving-kindness 
have I drawn thee."* " The mercy of the Lord is 
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear 
him."t " The Lord loved Israel for everT% And 
if this marvellous love be by God bestowed on 
beings in whom there is nothing lovely, nothing to 
attract it, who shall hinder, what can change it ? 
" I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore, ye sons 
of Jacob are not consumed." Wondrous love ! 
what are thine effects ? — They are infinite as their 
source, — where shall we limit them ? On earth, 
the effects of divine love: have been prominently 
seen in redemption. What but love could have 
induced the High and the Holy One, that inhabit- 
eth eternity, to become man, to sojourn with sin- 
ners, and, by a life spent among wretched guilty 
worms, to prepare for them a robe of unspotted 
righteousness ? What but love could have led Him, 
"for whom are all things, and by whom are all 
things," to consent to be forsaken of the Eternal, 
who was one with himself from everlasting, and 
to endure the unknown agonies of Gethsemane 
and Calvary for mortals ? Irresistible is the apos- 
tle's conclusion, " herein is love /" But, is divine 
love exhausted here ? — No ; its breadth, and 
length, and depth, and height, are inexhaust- 

* Jer. xxxi. 3. f Psal. ciii. 17. 1 1 Kings x. 9. 



48 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

ible ! Redemption, indeed, proves its extent, but 
stops not its current. It shall flow on uninterrupt- 
edly and eternally, beautifying and enriching the 
objects on whom it rests ! How noble is the effect 
of divine love in tb transformation of the human 
heart from sin ij, noliness ! This effect is likewise 
seen on earth ; but, O how conspicuously and glori- 
ously shall it appear in heaven ! This is a work 
worthy of the finger of God, and which God him- 
self alone can produce : and it is certainly, and in- 
variably, the proof of divine love. Is the soul 
deadened to the vanities of time, and alive to the 
infinite importance of things unseen and eternal ; 
humbled on account of sin, and striving to fulfil the 
whole will of God ; seeking to obtain salvation 
from the w r rath to come through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant, and growing in grace, and in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ ? no other evidence is necessary to prove, 
that upon this individual the love of God abides, 
for here the workmanship of God is visible. All 
created intelligences are unequal to the task of re- 
newing a soul dead in trespasses and in sins ; with 
God only this is possible. And where it is effected, 
even in the smallest degree, God hath wrought it, 
and they are the souls whom he loves, that he justi- 
fies, sanctifies, and glorifies, " according to the 
riches of his grace." 

What the effects of the love of God shall ever- 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 49 

lastingly be to his people, none can tell ; but this 
we do know, that they must be immeasurably pre- 
cious. When omnipotence and perfect wisdom 
unite to produce an effect, that which is thus pro- 
duced, must be transcendently estimable. In this 
world when God works, either in nature or in 
grace, we discern the operation of his hands by the 
wisdom and the beauty with which his work is 
fashioned. And is our earth the only theatre 
where the attributes of the Eternal are displayed ? 
Rather, is not what we have seen and known of 
God's wisdom, power, and love, but like the first- 
fruits we have tasted, of what shah eternally be the 
source of our wonder, joy, and praise ! , " Blessed 
shall they be who are called to the marriage sup- 
per of the Lamb :" yea, blessed, inexpressibly 
"blessed, is the nation whose God is the Lord." 

How unspeakably valuable, then, is divine love ! 
Oh ! believer, prize it ! God rests in his love ;* 
rest thou in it likewise. Seek no other portion. 
Let God be your all, and your " exceeding great 
reward !" 

It is to these, and such subjects, that the atten- 
tion of the Christian is more especially directed on 
the Sabbath-day. And who will maintain that 
there is uselessness, that there is austerity, in the 
command thus to spend it ? Who will say that it is 

* Zeph. iii. 17. 
5 



50 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

not alike the source of consolation, as of improve- 
ment, to devote its hours to the acquisition of the 
knowledge of God and his holy will, to thanksgiving 
for invaluable privileges, and to preparation for eter- 
nal blessedness ? There are other duties which 
properly belong to the Sabbath, such as the religious 
instruction of our families and dependants ; and the 
endeavour to alleviate the sufferings of the sick and 
the sorrowful. But unless the day be dedicated 
to its peculiar work, it may almost be affirmed, 
that religion cannot exist in the soul, and that it 
will wither and die with the disuse of these sacred 
exercises. 

How intimate is the connection between a Sab- 
bath that has been spent in the immediate presence 
of God, and with an heart more than usually im- 
pressed by its solemn services, and the days that 
follow during the week ! If the duties of the Sab- 
bath be performed in a cold and formal manner, 
religious feeling does not speedily recover its tone, 
But if this hallowed day be devoutly observed, 
piety is strengthened and invigorated, and the 
effects are experienced by the Christian in aug- 
menting his faith, in deepening his love, and in 
cherishing in his heart hope, and joy, and trust, 
and all the fruits of the Spirit. 

What reason is there for gratitude to God that 
he instituted the Sabbath ! Blessed day ! The 
very name imports rest ! And the nearer that we 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 51 

approach to the end of its institution, the greater is 
the rest and peace its solemn hours afford. They 
are, when thus employed, more separate from the 
influence of earth's vanities, than the other portions 
of our time can be. The soul rises, is elevated 
above the sordid taint which so naturally cleaves 
to us. Heaven seems nearer and more to be de- 
sired, — the world less ensnaring, and more beneath 
our regard. The design of the Sabbath is to bring 
us to God, and when God is present, blessedness 
naturally follows. In Him the soul can rest, it 
cannot in aught besides. It feels, that having 
found the centre of attraction, no other need be 
sought, for satisfaction dwells there. It looks no 
higher, for higher it cannot look. What can the 
soul desire that infinite perfection cannot supply 1 
In all other good there lacks something to com- 
plete the felicity — in the infinitude of the Eternal 
Jehovah, nothing. 

Thus the rest of the Sabbath is not only a rest 
from worldly engagements and recreations, but it 
is a rest in God : a day devoted to the attainment 
of a more fixed reliance upon him as the joy and 
portion of the soul, and to acquiring a more im- 
plicit trust in all that he has promised, and a more 
unreserved satisfaction in all that he is, and ever 
shall be. 

Ho^ false, then, is the allegation, that the Sab- 
bath is burdensome, — that the Christian would 



52 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

gladly relax from its rigour if he dare, — that if it 
were not for the penalty to be incurred, he would 
spend it as do others. On the contrary, knowing 
from experience that, when devoutly observed, it is 
frequently blessed as the means of increasing his 
graces, and of soothing his sorrows, it is that day, 
which, by the Christian, is more especially prized ; 
and his deep regret only arises that the end of its 
institution is so inadequately answered by him. 
He would, if he could, spend it as an angel from 
heaven might be supposed to do, were he on earth ; 
but in the keeping of this commandment, as in that 
of all others, defect and defilement pervade, and 
his hope for the acceptance of services so impure, 
rests on the righteousness and the atonement of 
his risen Lord. 

Being persuaded, however, of the benefit and 
the blessedness resulting from the observance of 
the Sabbath, can the believer in Jesus be found 
guilty of neglecting to improve its hallowed hours 
for the important purposes for which it was insti- 
tuted ? Or can there be a risk here too, that the 
society of the worldly may prove detrimental ? Let 
the disciples of Christ testify. Alas ! they may — 
they too often do fail in the entire observation of 
the Sabbath as a day of spiritual rest ; and associa- 
tion with worldly men is unhappily an impediment 
to the fulfilment, and a temptation to the careless 
performance of the devotional duties then required. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 53 

The open profanation of this day by the irreligi- 
ous and the wicked, has, it is true, no other effect 
on the mind of a Christian than that of pity for 
their folly, and of sorrow for their crime. And 
there can be no temptation to a child of God to 
imitate what is so flagrant a violation of the divine 
command. But, to suppose an instance of fre- 
quent occurrence. In the family circle there may 
be many members who know not God, and who 
merely observe the Sabbath, as at the beginning of 
this chapter it has been described, by occasional, 
or even by stated attendance on public worship, 
with little else to mark it from the rest of the week. 
Yet, here there may be an individual, who not 
nominally, but in truth, is the disciple of Jesus, and 
whose sincere desire it is to fulfil the whole law of 
God, and to keep holy the Sabbath-day. Is there 
nothing to cool the fervency of his devotion, no- 
thing to damp the life with which his religious du- 
ties might have been performed, from the circum- 
stance that no sympathetic emotions are found in any 
one with whom he is more immediately connected, 
to strengthen what is weak, and to confirm what 
is heavenly ? If alone and in retirement, this be- 
liever seeks and finds his God, — if in the house of 
prayer, his soul rises with Christ, and unseen reali- 
ties seem present, — how are his feelings deadened, 
and how does his religion die, when he mixes with 
those among whom he dwells, whose perceptions 

5* 



54 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

of divine truth are so little congenial, and whose 
conversation tends to obliterate every impression 
that had been produced on his mind, either in the 
closet or in the sanctuary ? 

"When such an effect follows the Christian's in- 
tercourse with the worldly, energy fails. To will 
is, indeed, present with him, but how to perform 
is the difficulty. And the happ)^ frame of mind he 
had enjoyed may be succeeded by an inaptitude to 
seek the exalted and ennobling pleasures of com- 
munion with Jehovah, and it is well if in no degree 
the believer's practice is likewise influenced by the 
example before him. 

There is another instance, painful indeed to 
dwell upon, and yet true, where w T orldliness in 
others may be productive of much injury to that 
spirituality of feeling which the children of God 
earnestly desire to cultivate. Among those who 
minister in sacred things, some there are whose 
hearts are little in unison with their office. In 
these the fervour of devotion dwells not ; their lips 
alone offer praise, and the cold, lifeless disserta- 
tions they deliver, fall upon the ear with paralysing 
effect. The Christian is not an exception to the 
general consequence of such an address ; for al- 
though the truth may be preached, it will ever fail 
to interest. And even when what is enforced co- 
incides with the dictates of inspiration, (which 
cannot always be affirmed,) and when the language 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 55 

in which the discourse is clothed is glowing and 
well chosen, still, that which interests not the 
speaker, can never affect the hearers. 

In this case, then, the house of prayer itself is 
that which deadens, and the offices of devotion that 
which tends to alienate from God ; for worldliness 
may be there also, and its withering spirit may be 
infused into services the most sacred. And the 
heart that had ascended to God in private, may be- 
come lifeless and unimpressed, through the dull 
monotony of formal ministrations, that are calcula- 
ted to freeze the genial warmth of religious feeling. 
Yet the injunction, " forsake not the assembling 
•of yourselves together, as the manner of some is," 
remains in force. And to attend upon the ordi- 
nances of divine appointment, is a proof of obedi- 
ence, even when the believer cannot hope to profit 
by them. Therefore, where more spiritual means 
are unattainable, through the circumstances in 
which he is placed, this duty will still not be ne- 
glected, remembering that " the lot is cast into the 
lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the 
Lord." 

Where intercourse with the worldly is unavoid- 
able, yet, as it ever will be detrimental, one re- 
source presents itself, a resource for every time of 
need, namely, prayer. Believing soul ! that which 
you would remedy is God's work ; from him, 
therefore, seek relief. To keep the heart alive to 



56 TKE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

the power of godliness, when necessitated to asso- 
ciate with those who are insensible to divine things, 
is not in man. But " God is able to make all 
grace abound towards you, to keep you from fall- 
ing, and to succour them that are tempted." Or, 
believer ! you desire that the worldly who are 
around you may " yield themselves to God, as 
those that are alive from the dead," and that they 
may live to his glory eternally. But the work of 
forming the soul to show forth His praise is crea- 
tive ; wherefore, pray. Man can do much. — He 
can invent and frame that which transports him 
through the pathless ocean ; and although his bark 
"be driven of fierce winds, yet it is turned about 
with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor 
iisteth, until it is brought unto the desired haven." 
He can form that which conveys him into ethereal 
regions, where, leaving his native residence, the 
earth, beneath him, the clouds become his pavil- 
ion. He can control fire and water, using them 
for his benefit, and by means of their power 
causing them efficiently to promote his advantage. 
He can bring under subjection animals the most 
savage, and the animate and inanimate creation, 
with which the world is stored, are subject to his 
dominion. These things, and many more, man 
can do; but one thing he cannot, and here his 
power fails ; he has no ability to free the soul from 
sin, " to deliver from the power of darkness, and 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 57 

to translate into the dominion of God's dear Son." 
Wherefore, Christian, if you desire this great 
work to be accomplished, pray, " He that made 
that which is without, made that which is within 
also ;" and to be " created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works," requires as much the energy of the 
Almighty as our original formation out of nothing. 
True " wisdom is from above;" from thence, there- 
fore, seek it. And let encouragement and comfort 
be derived from the consideration, that "we are 
insufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of 
ourselves, but that our sufficiency is of God." 



CHAPTER IV. 

RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY CONTRASTED WITH 
THE TRUE. 



World's religion without reference to the Bible — Consists in cold, uninfluen- 
tial ceremony — Worldly ideas of morality — Selfishness — Perversions of 
religion — What it really is ; deeply seated in the heart ; eminently conspicu- 
ous ; and unlimited in its influence— Religion of the worldly confined — The 
true, universal in its effect — Searching questions — Why wonders of re- 
demption wrought. 



" What is fanatic frenzy, scorned so much 
And dreaded more than a contagious touch ? 
I grant it dang'rous, and approve your fear, 
That fire is catching if you draw too near ; 
But sage observers oft mistake the flame, 
And give true piety that odious name. 
To tremble, (as the creatures of an hour 
Ought at the view of an Almighty power,) 
Before His presence, at whose awful throne 
All tremble, in all worlds, except your own. 
To supplicate his mercy, love his ways, 
To prize them above pleasure, wealth, or praise. 
Though common sense ailow'd a casting voice, 
And, free from bias, must approve the choice, 
Convicts a man fanatic in th' extreme, 
And wild as madness in the world's esteem !" 

From the observations that have been made in 
the preceding chapters, it is evident that the sen- 
timents which prevail in the world are very differ- 
ent from what the Scriptures inculcate ; and that 
the perceptions of such as "have tasted of the 



RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY, &C. 59 

heavenly gift, and are made partakers of the Holy- 
Ghost, living under the powers of the world to 
come," are not at all in unison with those of 
worldly professors. Nevertheless there are senti- 
ments and ideas, respecting religion and morality, 
which the more decent and creditable of the latter 
class have formed for themselves, and which, with 
little variation, are very universally adopted by 
them all. These are entirely without reference to 
the Bible ; nor can such persons be shaken in their 
opinions, by any thing in opposition to them, that 
may be advanced from sacred writ. 

If a passage from that inspired volume, by 
which we all profess to be guided, that is complete- 
ly at variance with their creed, be quoted in their 
hearing, it makes no impression on their minds. 
What is right, and what is wrong, is so settled to 
their satisfaction, that nothing appears to have the 
smallest weight in altering their notions or actions. 
Whence this theory of religion and morals is de- 
duced, it would be difficult to determine ; but it is 
generally received and understood by those of the 
worldly among whom propriety of conduct and 
regularity of life are found. So similar are their 
ideas on these points, that what they will say or 
do, in reference to them, may be known with equal 
certainty, as if a regular system had been promul- 
gated. Should any with whom they are conver- 
sant fail of reaching their standard, they will meet 



60 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

with their disapprobation ; but should they exceed 
the limits they have drawn, and attain to a higher 
grade, they are sure of incurring their dislike. 
To be worse than themselves, they deem repre- 
hensible ; but to be better is, in their view, unpar- 
donable. 

Their religion seems to consist in a sort of reve- 
rential deportment towards the Deity, manifesting 
itself in a cold and formal respect for sacred insti- 
tutions and things. Really to feel interested in 
what so nearly concerns us, as that happiness or 
misery for ever are impending, is by them deemed 
enthusiasm and folly ; but still the round of respect- 
ful compliment must be paid with undeviating 
regularity. They will tell you, that far from ne- 
glecting any religious duty, they think it highly 
blameworthy to do so ; but if mention is made of 
spending the Sabbath-day, as the genuine disciples 
of Jesus do, or of devoting even one hour to prayer, 
or to the perusal of the Word of Life, should they 
not avowedly confess that they condemn such prac- 
tices, a look of disapprobation will at least follow. 
Often we are told, " that they do not approve of 
carrying religion too far, — that it is very right to 
be religious when it is kept within due bounds,— 
and that those who say most about it are not the 
most sincere." In short, their sentiments respect- 
ing this subject of paramount importance, as far as 
they can be inferred from their words and actions, 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 61 

seem to be, that deference ought to be shown to 
religion in the aggregate ; but in what it consists 
beyond the mere form, seems totally undefined by 
them. It is not, as they conceive, the heart raised 
to God ; it is not the life guided by the precepts 
the Bible enjoins ; it is not the dependence placed 
on a crucified Redeemer for salvation, and the con- 
duct which naturally flows from such a reliance ; 
it is not communion with God in prayer and praise ; 
but it is a dull, formal, uninfluential return of care- 
less ceremony, without the design that it should be 
productive of any result, excepting the satisfaction 
that arises from the recollection, that what is bur- 
densome has been gone through, and that, there- 
fore, more liberty to enjoy themselves according to 
their inclinations may now safely be taken. 

Their ideas respecting morality are equally 
vague and undefined. They will tell you that it 
consists in being good members of society, good 
husbands, good parents, and good masters. But 
if we inquire more minutely, we shall find, that 
unless an individual be very much the reverse of 
these characters, according to their estimate, his 
morality is perfectly satisfactory. A good mem- 
ber of society, as they judge, is one who neither 
over-reaches nor defrauds his neighbour ; but it is 
not necessary that he should seek the well-being 
of others, or that he should do aught to promote 
the happiness, or to increase the rectitude of those 

6 



62 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

around him. These things are generally deemed 
by them superfluous and inexpedient, and savour 
too much of an interest felt in the cause of religion 
to be acceptable with the worldly. 

In the family circle, likewise, all are by them 
esteemed good who are not notoriously bad ; and 
many a good husband, father and master, render 
their households miserable by their arbitrary con- 
duct, or their unhappy tempers, if not by greater 
vices, without the slightest imputation being cast 
upon their moral character or deserts. The truth 
is, much the larger proportion of men are reckoned 
by the worldly, good. The slightest outside var- 
nish is sufficient to procure the world's encomiums, 
and little claim to virtue indeed must that man 
possess, to whom the appellation of moral is de- 
nied. 

In some persons of this class, selfishness seems 
to be the basis upon which their morals are built, 
and they are themselves often little aware how 
much their practice is influenced by this low affec- 
tion. They will on no account do what might be 
to their prejudice in the sight of others, and the 
good of others interests them according as it will 
affect themselves. They strive that none of their 
actions may be considered wrong ; and they rejoice 
in, and will do their utmost to augment the pros- 
perity of those who are necessary to their own 
comfort or aggrandizement. To promote their in- 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 63 

dividual benefit is their great object, and that their 
happiness can, in many ways, be effected through 
the medium of those connected with them, is evi- 
dent. There are likewise to be found, some in 
whom selfishness is not so all-absorbing a ground 
of action, and yet where much that is good in it- 
self is deteriorated by the influence of this princi- 
ple. Such persons cannot open their heart or 
their hands excepting in the narrow bounds of 
their own family and relationship. Within this 
limit they are kind, considerate, and liberal, and 
that, perhaps, without apparent reference to, or 
even thought of, their own advantage ; beyond it, 
however, no compassions flow, and no generous 
emotions beat. It is natural and proper that a 
preference should be felt and shown for those with 
whom we arc most nearly related, and with whom 
we more immediately dwell ; but where all besides 
are excluded from the slightest sympathy or in- 
terest, self may be detected as that which prompts 
to actions which, however they may deserve com- 
mendation, are thus robbed of their intrinsic excel- 
lence through the motive that instigates them. The 
charities of life are, with these persons, bound up 
in a contracted circle, and this circle revolves 
around self; and it is strongly to be suspected, if 
thus confined, that self-love is the influencing prin- 
ciple whence their good deeds emanate. To aid 
and kindly treat those who are dear to us, is nearly 



64 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

allied to a selfish gratification ; and if charity ex- 
tends no farther, it is cramped in its energies, and 
stinted in its growth. 

Such is the religion, and such the morality of 
many who rank among the best worldly characters ! 
Still greater perversions, however, of these funda- 
mental principles may very generally be found in 
other descriptions of worldly men ; each devising 
for himself some creed upon these important points, 
to suit his inclination, and as a salvo to his con- 
science. A few, indeed, of the immoral and pro- 
fane, unblushingly avow their determination to 
throw aside religion's trammels, and to yield no 
obedience to its laws ; " saying, let us break their 
bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." 
But there are more, even of this class, who pretend 
to maintain a religion, and a morality, foreign in- 
deed to the true, but which, strange as it may ap- 
pear, is satisfactory to themselves. 

Their religion consists in never having renounced 
the name of Christian, — in occasional attendance 
on the outward forms of Christianity, — and in the 
belief that they are entitled to its privileges. Their 
thoughts are no more encumbered by the subject, 
than those of the greatest infidel are ; and they 
would deprecate the idea, that the truths of revela- 
tion should ever be permitted to obtrude themselves 
on their imaginations. Still they conceive that 
they are Christians, and nothing but the commis- 



CONTIUSTEB WITH THE TRtJE. 65 

sion of very flagrant wickedness can, as they sup- 
pose, deprive them of the right to be so considered. 
And here their notions are most conveniently lax 
and general ; for almost every sin is by them 
deemed allowable. With the exceptions of mur- 
der and theft, and those offences which they ac- 
count dishonourable, scarcely any transgression of 
the law is not palliated by them. A sense of 
honour, evincing itself chiefly by a regard to truth, 
is their principal moral distinction ; further than 
this they neither pretend to practise, nor desire to 
imitate, the sublime precepts of the Gospel. 

Oh that what is thus barren should claim to be 
regarded as the religion of Christ ! Or that those 
in whom no better title to the appellation of 
Christian exists, should ever be permitted to usurp 
it ! Let us turn from the affecting picture, and 
with heartfelt gratification, inquire, what the reli- 
gion that our Divine Master taught us truly is, and 
what are the precepts which Christ inculcated ? 

Often as this cheering theme has been dwelt up- 
on, and familiar as it ought to be to our thoughts, 
yet, when viewing the superficial pretence of the 
worldly, and the deficiencies or crimes of profess- 
ing Christians, relief is brought to the mind by the 
recollection, that such perversion of the truth is 
not Christianity, and that no false religion which 
the world has ever known, can, in fact, be more 
completely opposed to the true, than that which 

6* 



66 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

these nominal Christians, with daring hardihood, 
profess and practise. 

It has been remarked that they take not their 
ideas from the Bible. This is characteristic of ail 
classes among the worldly. We do not say of all 
that the Sacred Volume is never in their hands, or 
that they do not peruse its pages ; but we do say 
that what they read makes no alteration in their 
sentiments ; that however much their opinions may 
differ from what revelation dictates, they remain 
unchanged. They read the Bible as if their duty 
consisted in the mere act, and not for instruction 
how to live ; and having performed the task, no 
reference is made, in thought or deed, to what has 
fallen under their review ; the debt is paid, and 
conscience is clear ! 

Could they be prevailed upon, seriously and 
prayerfully, to peruse the Word of God, with a 
sincere desire, and earnest endeavour, to compre- 
hend its meaning, to learn its lessons, and to im- 
bibe its spirit, hopes might be entertained, that the 
light of divine truth would break in upon their 
darkened minds, and that the dawn of a brighter 
day was at hand. " Then shall ye know, if ye 
follow on to know the Lord ; and he shall come 
unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain 
unto the earth." But if "the heart is hid from 
understanding, and the ear turned away from hear- 
ing the law," the life-giving pages must remain 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 67 

" sealed up among God's treasures,"* ready indeed 
to be dispensed to all, but of no utility to those who 
despise them. 

What, then, do the Scriptures teach us respect- 
ing religion and its fruits ? and what distinguishes 
the religion of the Bible from that which we have 
been considering as so generally found among 
nominal Christians ? One material distinction be- 
tween true Christianity and the mere profession of 
it is, that when genuine, it is deeply seated in the 
heart, and hence influences the life. The religion 
of the Bible does not skim the surface, but strikes 
at the root. It is not superficial but fundamental. 
It imparts its healing virtues to the fountain, that 
thence streams of health may flow. 

The heart is the residence of all that is intrin- 
sically good or bad. " A good man, out of the 
good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good 
things ; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, 
bringeth forth evil things. Out of the abundance 
of the heart the mouth speaketh ; and the end of 
the commandment, charity, is out of a pure heart." 
The heart, in fact, constitutes the man, and the 
hearts of all men arc led captive either by God or 
Satan. While " man looketh on the outward ap- 
pearance, the Lord looketh on the heart." 

The h£art is the seat of the operations of divine 

* Deuteronomy xxxii. 34. 



68 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

grace. It is by nature dead to all moral affections, 
unable to beat with love to God or man. But 
quickened by the Spirit, it is made alive, and be- 
comes one in purpose and in interest with the Su- 
preme ! By the Holy Ghost the stony heart is ta- 
ken out of the flesh, and a heart of flesh, given ; 
and thus it becomes deeply affected by its lost es- 
tate, feels the turpitude of its every thought, and 
earnestly longs for recovery from a condition so 
debased. It is penetrated by a sense of the won- 
derful means that have been employed to effect this 
desired renovation, even the unexampled sufferings 
of the Eternal Son ; and won by love thus mar- 
vellously exhibited, it embraces the salvation of 
Jesus, not coldly and formally, but with lively 
emotions of gratitude, unfeignedly, unreservedly. 
The language of that heart henceforward is, " what 
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? 
I will delight myself in thy statutes, I will not for- 
get thy word." 

Nor is it with resolutions and promises alone that 
a heart touched by divine grace can be satisfied. 
" I will run the way of thy commandments when 
thou shalt enlarge my heart," said the Psalmist ; 
and when " the law of God is in the heart, none 
of the steps shall slide." And here w r e are led to 
notice another distinction between the religion of 
the Bible and that of the worldly professor, — that 
the former is eminently conspicuous. 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 69 

The religion that the worldly profess has little to 
mark its existence ; it is scarcely discernible, and 
never increases in strength or beauty. At the best, 
it consists in freedom from gross sin, and in the 
being possessed of some exterior good qualities. 
But the renewal of the soul from the love of sin 
to the love of holiness, is accomplished by divine 
agency, and, like the other works of God, is cal- 
culated to attract observation. They are not made 
to be concealed, but are destined to reflect the glory 
of their Author. And the path of the just is illu- 
mined by rays of divine light, through which the 
operation of the Most High may be traced. " We 
are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained that 
we should walk in them."* The new man " after 
God is created in righteousness and true holiness."! 
And it is " the exceeding greatness of his power 
to them who believe," J which is manifested, in 
their being " conformed to the image of his son /" § 
When the power of God operates, what shall im- 
pede the accomplishment of his purpose ? And 
when the effect is a transformation so wonderful, 
as that man should bear the image of his Son, can 
the change pass unnoticed ? Is the difference tri- 
fling between the image of the earthly, and the 
image of the Lord from heaven ? Can the one be 

* Eph. ii. 10. t lb. iv. 24. X lb. i. 19. § Rom. viii. 29. 



70 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

mistaken for the other ? Or, is not the image of 
Christ easily to be discerned in those who bear it ? 
The likeness in some Christians may be more 
complete ; but all grow in assimilation to their 
Head in all things. And the properties which 
shone with such unparalleled lustre in the Saviour 
when he tabernacled on earth, are in some measure 
visible in every one of his believing people. And 
as " a city set on a hill cannot be hid," so the in- 
fluence of the Spirit of God in the heart must ap- 
pear, " to the praise of the glory of his grace." 
" Ye are our epistle," said Paul, " known and read 
of all men." 

With one other distinguishing mark of true 
religion, when compared with that which is the 
mere profession of it, we shall conclude our obser- 
vations on the subject. Where religion is genuine, 
it is not only fundamental and conspicuous, but it 
is likewise unlimited in its influence. 

The religion of the worldly is always confined 
to some few deeds, generally those to which their 
inclinations prompt them, or to which they are led 
by their education or habits. The temperate will 
place their religion in sobriety ; the frugal in care- 
fulness ; the prodigal in liberality ; and all, per- 
haps, in a certain attention to the exterior form of 
divine worship, in public or in private. But they 
are uniformly desirous to guard against excess of 
religion ; " hitherto shalt thou go, and no farther," 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 71 

is their language regarding it. They will talk of 
being properly religious, or of going too great 
lengths in religion ; and they do not scruple to say 
that it is dangerous to give up the mind too much 
to religion. Thus fearful are they that the boun- 
dary line which they prescribe should be passed, 
and the affections become interested. 

The religion which the Bible enjoins, on the 
contrary, extends to every thought, feeling, temper, 
and emotion. The whole soul, with all its dispo- 
sitions, qualities and passions, is by it brought un- 
der the guidance of the revealed will of God. The 
work is God's, and his design, where religion is 
implanted, is to renew his own image in man, not 
partially and defectively, but completely and for 
ever. Therefore the transformation is universal, 
without limits, extending to all the desires and all 
the actions. Not that there is perfection in any 
one of them while on earth, but that the end pro- 
posed, for which the creative energy of the Most 
High operates, is "to present every man perfect 
in Christ Jesus, according to his working, which 
worketh mightily." And even now, being alive 
from the dead, all the members are instruments of 
righteousness unto God. The very God of peace 
sanctifying, not in one or in many parts, but wholly. 
" And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
liberty." Liberty in access to a throne of grace ; 
an enlargement of heart to seek after God ; free- 



72 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY 

dom from sin that had formerly been delighted in ; 
and, in the world to come, an entire exemption 
from all evil. " Jerusalem which is above is free, 
and the whole limit thereof round about shall be 
most holy." 

Thus, the work of God is not confined in its 
operation, but influences the whole man. There 
is no grace that is not implanted in the soul of him 
who is born from above ; and all the graces of the 
Spirit, when they are implanted, increase in 
strength and beauty. " He shall grow as the lily, 
and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches 
shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive 
tree." And the greater the advancement of any 
Christian in holiness, the more intense are his de- 
sires after complete assimilation to the divine like- 
ness. From the heart he exclaims, " O how I love 
thy law, it is my meditation all the day. I hate 
vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. I shall be 
satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." 

From these few evidences it were easy to deter- 
mine if religion has gained that ascendancy in our 
breasts which marks its reality ; or, if the profes-* 
sion of it only is ours. Does it take its rise from 
the seat of all good and evil, the heart ? Can none 
of those with whom we are conversant, be igno- 
rant that it is to be found there from the exhibition 
of its fruit? And is every desire, affection, and 
action, in some degree influenced by it ? These 



CONTRASTED WITH THE TRUE. 73 

are simple but searching questions; and however 
we may hope well respecting our spiritual state, 
let us not rest satisfied till we can answer them in 
the affirmative* What God has taught us is not 
of trivial importance ; and to trifle through life 
with a concern so weighty, as whether we have 
reason to expect happiness or misery eternally, 
is folly not to be credited, were it not so general. 
The flimsy texture of outside religion with which 
the worldly satisfy their consciences, can never be 
the principle which the Son of God became man, 
and in our nature lived and died, to implant. It 
was not for an inconsiderable benefit, but to renew 
the human soul after the image of God, which it 
had lost, that "the Word was made flesh, and 
dwelt among us." In the land of the living, where 
could a price equal to this result be found ? " The 
depth saith, It is not in me ; and the sea saith, It 
is not in me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither 
shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. The 
gold and the crystal cannot equal it ; no mention 
shall be made of coral, or of pearls ; for the price 
of wisdom is above rubies !" And infinite must 
be the worth and the magnitude of the gift, when 
what may almost seem conflict in the ever blessed 
Trinity, can alone entitle to the reception of it ! 
The hand of the Father is turned against the Son, 
and the sword of Divine justice is unsheathed 
against the man that is God's fellow ! and the 

7 



74 RELIGION OF THE WORLDLY, &C. 

Shepherd is smitten,* and what must be the result 
when wonders like these are accomplished ? Is a 
benefit of little value gained ? — a slight shade of 
distinction only produced between the characters 
of the unrenewed and the redeemed ? — Shall we 
not rather conclude, that the effects are illimitable, 
and that the duration of them will be eternal ? 
Yes ; the people of God, " beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord."f " And being made free from sin, 
and become servants to God, they have their fruit 
unto holiness, and the end everlasting life"% This 
is the noble consummation of the Redeemer's 
sacrifice. "For this purpose the Son of God was 
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the 
devil." And into the new Jerusalem "there shall 
in no wise enter any thing that denleth, neither 
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; 
but they that are written in the Lamb's book of 
life." 

* Zech. xiii. 7. 1 2 Cor iii. 18. % Rom. vi. 22. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE YOUNG SHOWN WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 



Ignorance of Religion often in the well inclined among the Young — They 
conceive of it as enthusiam — To think thus not blameless — Youth attrac- 
tive — The Young addressed — Lord Chesterfield's testimony to the vanity 
of the World— Extract of a Letter to him from Voltaire — That Religion is 
gloomy, contradicted by fact— Clementine Cuvier; Hannah Sinclair — 
Striking contrast between the happiness expressed by the Religious, and the 
lack of it in the Worldly— The Young earnestly pled with- 



" Deceiv'd ; they, fondly thinking to allay 
Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit 
Chew'd bitter ashes." 

There is a class of worldly characters in whom 
it is impossible for a Christian not to feel a lively 
interest — we allude to the well inclined among the 
young ; but who, from the manner in which they 
have been educated, from the society among whom 
their lot has fallen, from prejudice, or some other 
cause, have not embraced the Gospel as their re- 
fuge and joy. These individuals most commonly 
have lived in the families of the worldly, and never 
having enjoyed the advantage of being instructed 
in the principles of genuine religion, are often to- 
tally ignorant of what it really is. 

They will do many things that are praiseworthy, 



76 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

with the intention to do right, and possibly to please 
God ; but they know not the foundation upon which 
all goodness that is universal in its influence, and 
unlimited in its sway, must be built, — a reliance 
for pardon and acceptance on the merits of a cruci- 
fied Saviour, and a dependence on the operation of 
the Holy Spirit, which is freely given, for the Re- 
deemer's sake, to all who ask for it. 

Such ideas, they have been taught to believe, 
savour of enthusiasm. They conceive of them as 
wild, chimerical opinions, adopted only by fanatics. 
Perhaps they are told that they were requisite 
in the time of the Apostles, and at the first pro- 
mulgation of Christianity, but that now they are 
completely exploded by sober, thinking people, as 
superfluous or dangerous. The godly, (as they 
are often termed,) they hear spoken of as well 
meaning, but injudicious persons, elevated in their 
conduct a little above what common sense dictates, 
and whose heated imaginations lead them to en- 
tertain speculative theories, that are of no moment, 
and lead to no practical result. 

To think thus of the peculiar tenets and invalua- 
ble discoveries of our religion, is undoubtedly not 
blameless. And even those who know no better, 
can never be acquitted on the score of ignorance, 
where such a blaze of Gospel light exists as that 
with which our land is favoured. None need be 
ignorant who can read the Word of God, and have 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 77 

access to its contents. There, the great truths of 
religion are plainly revealed, and it is our own 
fault if we do not receive them. And yet, the cir- 
cumstances in which some are placed, are much 
less favourable for their being instructed in what is 
necessary for their salvation and their peace, than 
those of other men ; and where the design appears 
to be to act up to the line of duty, in so far as it is 
known, it is matter of deep regret that any, so in- 
clined, should be led to depart from it. 

There is something interesting and attractive in 
the ingenuous frankness of youth ; and when 
amiable and estimable qualities also appear in the 
young, the interest is enhanced, and, u Oh ! that 
they were the Lord's !" is the fervent desire of the 
believer in Jesus. But how affecting is it to see 
these young persons in the families of the worldly, 
and to know, that those in whom they naturally 
confide, who are the guardians of their early years, 
are the most ready to warn them against the way 
of life, and to lead them in the path that separates 
from God. We speak not of the pernicious exam- 
ple of the openly wicked, which, it is too evident, 
must be prejudicial to youth ; but we allude to the 
conduct of worldly-minded parents, whose desire 
it is to warn their offspring against extremes in re- 
ligion, (of all evils what they most dread,) and to 
initiate them in scenes of vanity and folly, which 
ensnare and contaminate. 

7* 



78 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

It is possible these pages may be perused by 
some young persons whose situations are similar 
to what has been stated, but who have not vet be- 
come the slaves of the world. Oh ! that we could 
induce them to reflect, ere they enlist themselves 
among its votaries, who are solely intent on human 
applause; desirous of decoration and splendour; 
caring for nothing but their temporal interest ; and 
making self-indulgence, ease, and pleasure, their 
chief concern. 

Were there no hereafter, the attempt might war- 
rantably be made, to derive satisfaction from what, 
notwithstanding, never afforded it. Still, were it 
our all, it were reasonable to strive to attain some- 
thing, even where others had failed. But to cast 
aside the certainty of blessedness for that which, 
on trial, has ever proved fallacious, is surely mad- 
ness. We are not aware that a single instance is 
on record of the worldly having acknowledged that 
they had found what they sought, — happiness. But- 
many times has " vanity of vanities, all is vanity," 
been, at the last hour, the exclamation of men of 
the world ; and having seen, and known, the most 
this earth can give, they have confessed that its 
joys are illusive, and its possessions unsatisfying. 

The testimony of one individual to the vanity of 
the world, after having enjoyed its favours in the 
highest degree, and to whom it was every thing, is 
so valuable, that, although well known, we make 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 79 

no apology for transcribing it. So devoted was he 
to his idol, that outside varnish, good breeding, and 
good manners, constituted his model of perfection ! 
And he enforced to his own son, that the principal 
objects to which he wished him to devote his at- 
tention, were his appearance, his elocution, and his 
style; to promote which worldly advantages, he 
cared not to what vices this near relative was de- 
graded ! To gloss over this part of his history, his 
memorialist charitably wishes that he had lived to 
publish his letters to his son himself, which would 
have given him the opportunity of expunging some 
obnoxious passages. But he who so unreservedly 
recommended the world, with its follies, its prin- 
ciples, and practices ; in his latter days, to that son, 
thus avows that it had failed him ; — 

" I have seen," said Lord Chesterfield, " the silly 
rounds of business and pleasure, and have done 
with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of 
the world, and, consequently, know their futility, 
and I do not regret their loss. I appraise them at 
their real value, which is, in truth, very low; 
whereas those who have not experienced, always 
over-rate them. They only see their gay outside, 
and are dazzled with their glare ; but I have been 
behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse 
pulleys and dirty ropes which exhibit and move the 
gaudy machines ; and I have seen and smelt the 
tallow candles which illuminate the whole decora- 



80 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

tion, to the astonishment and admiration of an ig- 
norant audience. When I reflect back upon what 
I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have 
done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that 
frivolous hurry, and bustle, and pleasure of the 
world, had any reality ; but I look upon all that 
has past as one of those romantic dreams which 
opium commonly occasions ; and I by no means 
desire to repeat the nauseous dose, for the sake of 
the fugitive dream. Shall I tell you that I bear 
this melancholy situation with that meritorious con- 
stancy and resignation which most people boast of? 
No ; for I really cannot help it. I bear it because 
I must bear it, whether I will or no. I think of 
nothing but killing time the best way I can, now 
that he has become mine enemy. It is my reso- 
lution to sleep in the carriage the remainder of the 
journey." Poor worldling ! is this all that you 
have gained, even in time ? 

But it may, moreover, be useful to know, that 
this noble personage was deemed peculiarly fortu- 
nate among the worldly. We therefore quote a 
passage from a letter addressed to Lord Chesteriield, 
by a still more celebrated worldling and infidel, 
Voltaire, and w r hich likewise proves that he also 
thought but meanly of all the w r orld can give. 

" Tully," says he, " wrote a fine treatise on Old 
Age, but he did not realize his assertions, and his 
latter years were far from being happy. You have 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 81 

lived longer and more happily than he did. Your 
lot has been, and is still, one of the most desirable 
in that great lottery where the prizes are so few, 
and where the great prize of constant happiness 
has never yet been drawn by any one. Your phil- 
osophy has never.been discomposed by those phan- 
toms which have sometimes overset pretty good 
heads, nor have you ever been, in any respect, a 
pretender, or the dupe of pretenders, which, in my 
estimation, is an uncommon degree .of merit, and 
contributes to that shadow of felicity which may 
be enjoyed in this short life." 

Here we have the testimony of one who likewise 
enjoyed the world's highest favours and distinctions, 
that its felicity is but a shadow, — that its prizes 
are few, and the greatest prize unattainable, — and 
that the man who could write a fine treatise on Old 
Age, was, nevertheless, (being devoid of the con- 
solations of religion.) not happy in his latter years. 
And we have this shadow of felicity attributed to 
him who himself tells us, he did not possess it. 
In similar language, he who is told that his lot is 
so favoured, compares worldly pleasure to a dream, 
which has no existence but in fancy. Yet, if it 
were real, it is not enviable ; for it is not durable. 
It withers as certainly as the opening leaf is nipped 
by the frost of winter. Its tendency is to decay. 
Place a man on the highest pinnacle of worldly 
prosperity, and there let him remain while in the 



82 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

body ; he may feel enjoyment, but it ceases neces- 
sarily, and of itself. To suppose an impossible 
case, as we are constituted, that some one were 
continued on earth, with youth, health, and all the 
gifts of time, for a thousand years, satiety and dis- 
gust would arise from the repetition of pleasure so 
unsubstantial as those the world affords. In the 
possession of such, an immortal spirit cannot solace 
itself. They neither ennoble nor elevate. They 
are trifling, they are degrading, they are vain !* 

And is it for these that the worldly so anxiously 
seek; for which they, with so much eagerness, 
toil ; and for which they lose heaven ? Are these 
a fair exchange for everlasting life ? " O my soul, 
come not thou into their secret ; unto their assem- 
bly, mine honour, be not thou united." 

But possibly the young may imagine, or may 
be told, that religion is gloomy, and that the only 
satisfaction that can be derived from it, is in the 
hope to which it gives rise in the view of another 

* An anecdote occurs to the writer, which was related to her 
by her lamented father, Sir John Sinclair. He was invited by a 
late eminent statesman, Lord Melville, then high in office, to 
spend New Year's Day with him at Wimbledon Common. He 
arrived there the day before, and in the morning repaired to the 
chamber of his host, to wish him a happy new year. " It had 
need be happier than the last," replied Lord M., " for I cannot 
recollect a single happy day in it" And this was the man who 
was the envy of many, being considered at the height of worldly 
prosperity ! 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 83 

state of existence. Ah ! think not so. How 
many testimonies might be adduced, to give the 
lie to a representation so false ! How many, 
among the gay and the prosperous, have confessed, 
when changed by grace, that they knew not joy 
until they tasted it pure and unmingled from its 
fountain, — godliness. 

Perhaps we may be permitted, in proof of this 
assertion, to quote the language of a young and 
beautiful woman, living among the most distin- 
guished inhabitants, and in the gayest circles of 
the French capital. Here, every thing to allure 
was present, and the world, in all its splendour, 
held out its most attractive fascinations. She was 
the daughter of Baron Cuvier, and the name of 
her eminent sire ensured her the notice and regard 
of the world. 

But Clementine had sought and found "the 
pearl of great price," and had learned to despise 
the glitter of earth's parade. " I want to tell you," 
she writes, " how happy I am. My heart has at 
length felt, what my mind has long understood ; 
the sacrifice of Christ answers to all my wishes, 
and meets all the wants of my soul ; and since I 
have been enabled to embrace, with ardour, all its 
provisions, my heart enjoys a sweet and incompa- 
rable tranquillity. Formerly, I vaguely assured 
myself that a merciful God would pardon me ; but 
I now feel that I have obtained that pardon, — that 



84 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

I obtain it every moment, — and I experience inex- 
pressible delight in seeking it at the foot of the 
cross. My heart is full, and it is now that I un- 
derstand the angelic song, ' Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good will towards 
men.' " 

In another letter she writes, " I experience a 
pleasure in reading the Bible, which I have never 
felt before ; it attracts and fixes me to an incon- 
ceivable degree ; and I seek sincerely there, and 
only there, the truth. When I compare the calm 
peace which the smallest and most imperceptible 
grain of faith gives to the soul, with all that the 
world alone can give of joy, or happiness, or glory, 
I feel that the least in the kingdom of heaven is a 
hundred times more blessed than the greatest and 
most elevated of the men of the world." 

And again she says, " the certainty, that without 
divine grace I can do nothing, but that that grace 
is always with me, that it surrounds me, preserves 
me, supports me, — this sweet assurance fills my 
heart; and thus I feel most profoundly, that faith 
alone can satisfy the void which I sometimes used 
to feel in my soul. The profound conviction, that 
there is an infinite and merciful Being, who orders 
all things, — that not a hair of the head falls with- 
out his permission,-— and that he will control every 
circumstance for my real welfare, gives me an 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 85 



habitual peace and tranquillity which nothing else 
could inspire,"* 

And is there ground for suspicion here that 
gloom possessed the mind? Is there reason to 
apprehend that religion was, to this young person, 
the source of melancholy, and that she only re- 
sorted to it as a subterfuge, earth's gifts having 
failed her ? No ; it is distinctly stated in these 
valuable extracts, that it " answers to all her wish- 
es, and meets all the wants of her soul ;" that 
" incomparable tranquillity, habitual peace, and 
inexpressible delight" were experienced in con- 
sequence of a reception of gospel truth ; that faith 
can alone satisfy the void that is felt in the soul of 
man ; and that nothing else can inspire the habitual 
peace which true religion imparts. 

Yet language like this is not peculiar ; it is 
common to all who have learned to place their 
confidence in a crucified Redeemer. Among gen- 
uine believers we never hear the voice of despon- 
dency or of complaint, unless when faith fails, and 
they are unable to realize their interest in the 
blessings of salvation. Give them the possession, 
and the anticipation of these, and they ask no 
higher joy ; entire satisfaction is the result. " The 

* A Memoir of Clementine Cuvier appeared in the Evangeli- 
cal Magazine, in 1828. The writer is indebted for these ex- 
tracts from her letters, to an interesting little work entitled, 
" The Flower Faded." By John Angell James. 

8 



86 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

statutes of the Lord rejoice the heart, and his 
people rejoice in his Word, as those that find great 
spoil." 

If we are favoured by familiar intercourse with 
the pious, or if we read the accounts of them, 
transmitted to us by those who are so, we cannot 
fail, also, to be struck with the conviction, that re- 
markable support and consolation, along with their 
trials, are afforded them, and that tranquillity and 
confidence, in days of adversity, and at the hour 
of death, is the fruit of reliance on the Saviour. 

The authoress hopes she may be forgiven for 
mentioning the experience of a much loved sister, 
whose resignation and peace on a death-bed were 
eminently conspicuous. This endeared relative was ? 
earlier than many of her contemporaries, called 
to her everlasting rest ; but not before she had left, 
for the benefit of others, a short but luminous 
compendium of her faith, or before she had proved 
its sincerity, by her separation in heart from the 
world, and by the excellence of her temper, and 
her practice. 

That religion was not in her productive of 
gloom, may be gathered from some observations 
which have been noticed in her memoir, and which 
are still fresh in the memory of the writer, to 
whom they were made. " I have never," said she, 
" been so happy as last night. I was not able to 
sleep, and began to meditate on the employment 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 87 

of saints and angels around the throne. I rumina- 
ted until I thought I saw the multitude of the re- 
deemed, which no man can number. I fancied I 
heard their angelic voices, singing the song of 
Moses and the Lamb. Methought I joined with 
them, and at last I concluded, by praying that I 
might be soon, if not immediately, removed, to 
unite my note of praise with theirs." " Such ex- 
pressions," adds her memorialist, " illustrate the 
character of those highly-favoured moments, in 
which God is sometimes pleased to animate his 
faithful people, by a peculiar blessing upon their 
meditations, concerning the heavenly state. 'He 
thus giveth songs in the night.' " 

When days and months of languishing were af- 
terwards appointed her, confidence in God, and 
undisturbed serenity in the prospect of a future 
state, continued to be experienced by her. It is 
stated, that " at this period she said to a friend, ' I 
never spend one dull hour, 1 although she was very 
often necessarily left alone, being unable to bear 
the fatigue of society for any length of time toge- 
ther. A younger sister one day lamented that her 
sufferings were so great, she replied, ' I would 
cheerfully suffer it all over again, that you might 
enjoy the same consolation from religion, in the 
same circumstances.' Her uncommon patience 
struck every one who saw her. She never com- 
plained ; and when it was noticed to her, said, ' it 



88 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

would be a wonder if I were not patient, when I 
have so many mercies to be thankful for.' ' Her 
thoughts and occupations,' writes a near relative, 
■ were in sickness, as they had ever been in health, 
such as became one, so deeply impressed as she 
had the happiness to be, with the unspeakable 
comfort, as well as importance, which belongs to 
the truth as it is in Jesus.' " And again, it is add- 
ed, " Never was a death-bed more tranquil and 
calm. Not a doubt nor a fear disturbed her. Not. 
a complaint or a murmur once escaped her lips \ 
all was peace, peace."* 

In reference to what he had beheld of her bodily 
sufferings and peaceful state, and to the value of 
the Bible in promoting a confidence so enviable, a 
relative to whom she was tenderly attached thus 
bore testimony : — " If called upon to tend the sick- 
bed, and to witness the protracted sufferings of one 
unto whom the heart is closely knit, by the double 
ties of reverence and love ; have we not found, 
that, whilst the taper of life is imperceptibly hast- 
ening to extinction, the pure lamp of faith still burns 
internally, with unquenchable and undiminished, 
nay, even with increasing brightness ? Have we 
not perceived, that when all human help is vain, — 
when the memory of the past is fading away, — 

* Memoir of Hannah Sinclair, prefixed to her Letter on the 
Principles of the Christian Faith. By the Rev. Leigh Rich- 
mond. 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 89 

when the occurrences of the present cease to inter- 
est, and all personal concern in the future events of 
this world is about to be cut off for ever, the mercies 
of our God, and the promises of our Redeemer, 
are the theme on which the dying sufferer still 
loves to expatiate and to reflect ? When the elo- 
quence of the orator, the liveliness of the wit, and 
the sublimity of the philosopher, can no longer fas- 
cinate or instruct, the Scriptures are still listened 
to with avidity and delight. When a transient 
slumber has recruited for a time the fast decaying 
strength of the body, how eagerly does the mind 
again seek to refresh itself at this pure and inex- 
haustible source of spiritual peace and serenity ! 
It is then that the perusal of the Bible disarms 
death of all its terrors, — it reminds the expiring 
Christian, that in humble reliance on the Saviour's 
sufferings and intercession, he is hastening to an 
inheritance of eternal happiness, far greater than it 
has entered the heart of man to conceive."* 

And again, we ask, is gloom manifest here ? 
Were dissatisfaction, and discontent, the result of 
a life spent in the service of God ? And was sor- 
row, or comfort, the most apparent at its close ? 
The reply to such inquiries is evident. But if we 
peruse the writings, or listen to the melancholy 



* Speech of Sir George Sinclair, Bart, to the Bible Society 
at Kingston, in 1818. 

8* 



90 THE YOUNG SHOWN 

lamentations of those who have spent their live*, in 
the pursuit of worldly gratifications, we shall soon 
be convinced where chagrin shows itself, and where 
gloom really exists. The contrast is striking ! Let 
not the subject be carelessly and hastily considered ;. 
let it be deeply pondered, and viewed with the 
seriousness it demands. If the pleasures of the 
world afford not satisfaction even in time, where is 
the inducement to make them our portion, for time 
is the limit of their durance ; they pretend not to 
exist beyond it. They come with a flattering 
show, and dazzling appearance of earthly happi- 
ness, to entrap the unwary ; but, when grasped, 
they are discovered to be phantoms instead of 
realities ; and even if they should be enjoyed for a 
moment, they vanish when we most need their 
aid, — in the season of affliction, of poverty, of sick- 
ness, of old age, and at the hour of death ! 

But we began this chapter by addressing those 
interesting characters among the young, whose sin- 
cere desire it is to live as they ought, but who, 
from untoward circumstances, have not been ac- 
customed to view genuine religion in its just light. 
With them we would importunately plead. Oh ! 
halt, inquire, pray. Is it rational to suppose that 
God claims no more of your time, of your thoughts, 
and of your affections, than the worldly are dis- 
posed to allow ? Can religion be comprised in a 
few cold, heartless, ceremonies ? Can the world's 



WHERE TO FIND HAPPINESS. 91 

pleasures ensure lasting happiness ? And if not, 
how is joy here, and joy hereafter, to be attained ? 
In these questions, your conduct during life is 
involved. Oh, then, solve them without delajv 
If the will of God is revealed in the Scriptures, 
there, with Clementine, seek the truth. Seek it 
unweariedly, seek it prayerfully. Light, it is pro- 
mised, shall be given when thus sought, to walk in 
the path; straight, indeed, may be the entrance, 
and narrow the way, but still the hallowed path 
that leads to unending felicity. 

And yet, with all the flood of divine light that is 
around us, it is possible that some young person 
maybe disposed to reply, "I do not understand 
your meaning. I do not know to what line of con- 
duct you are so solicitous that I should conform. 
I am willing to be instructed, but, with the Ethio- 
pian, when asked, ' Understandest thou what thou 
readest V I am ready to say, how can I, except 
some one should guide me ?" 

That an individual, having little access to in- 
struction in the all-important subject of religion 
may, possibly, with anxiety, seek it from our feeble 
efforts, is an overwhelming consideration, calculated 
to awaken the tenderest interest. 

Oh ! that direction were given to our thoughts 
and our pen ; that we could be instrumental in 
pointing out to a single inquiring fellow-creature 
the way of life ; that our attempts to enlighten, if 



92 THE YOUNG SHOWN, &C\ 

it were but one individual, who seeks after truthj 
may, by the blessing of God, be crowned with suc- 
cess. Greatly would such a result gladden, and 
rich indeed would be our recompense. Depend- 
ing, therefore, upon, and earnestly praying for, the 
influences of divine grace, that we may write what 
is in accordance with the mind of the Spirit, we 
proceed to state what is, in our apprehension, the 
method revealed to us in sacred writ, by which 
men seek and find peace with God, peace of con- 
science, peace in life, and peace in death, with 
4t an entrance ministered abundantly into the ever 
lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE WAY OF SALVATION. 



what is essential to salvation clearly revealed— Difficulties where there neev. 
be none — A sense of helplessness necesssary — A sense of sin very encour- 
aging—Receiving Christ— Salvation finished— For whom? those who 
desire it in whole — Believer discouraged by defect in sanctification — Ad- 
dress to the careless — Delay dangerous— Warfare commences with spiritual 
life. 



M Inscribed above the portal, from afar 
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star, 
Legible only by the light they give, 
Stand the soul-quickening words, Believe and Live." 

To point out the way of salvation generally, 
taking the Bible for our guide, is comparatively 
easy. All that is necessary for men to know, in 
order to their escaping eternal condemnation and 
inheriting everlasting life, is, thanks be to God, 
plainly revealed. Many difficulties may arise 
when perusing the Sacred Oracles, in the compre- 
hension of mysteries, in the construction of pas- 
sages, as to the chronology of dates, or, in some 
instances, in the meaning of words, but there is no 
difficulty in ascertaining the method by which God 
has reconciled sinners to himself, and by which 
guilty men are made " partakers of the divine na- 
ture, having escaped the corruption that is in the 



94 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

world through lust." In these interesting disco- 
veries of his counsel, and of his working, there is 
nothing obscure or enigmatical in holy writ, — all 
is level to any capacity, — and clearness and sim- 
plicity, when treating of such topics, are charac- 
teristic of what is written by the inspired penmen. 
And yet, it is often found, that what is apparent- 
ly so plain, and so intelligible to every one who 
will give his attention to the subject, is through the 
blindness of our understandings, and the perversity 
of our wills, not easily reduced to practice. And 
difficulties seem to arise in our individually engag- 
ing in the service of the Eternal, where, in fact, 
excepting in ourselves, none exist. And, although 
a highway is opened, the way of holiness, yet, in 
their personal experience, too many act and feel 
as if its entrance were still closed against them. 
They are disposed to say, " We cannot serve the- 
Lord, — we know not how the attempt is to be 
made, or where the deficiency lies, but darkness 
obscures the heavenly path, and we are unable 
to walk in it." And many go on from year to year, 
with languid desires, and faint resolutions of amend- 
ment, purposing that they will do something, and 
scarcely knowing what they mean to do ; sensible 
that they are not Christians in the Bible accepta- 
tion of the term, and determining that they will 
become so at a future period, and yet remaining 
unaltered in their character, and unregenerated ia 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 95 

their life. And it is well, if thus procrastinating, 
they do not " resolve and re-resolve, and then die 
the same." 

Should any one, into whose hands these pages* 
may fall, be conscious of an inability to submit 
himself to God, — should he experience that effort 
is vain, — that any attempt he has hitherto made 
has proved fruitless, — it may be encouraging to 
him to learn, that he has already gained a neces- 
sary step in the way to heaven, — a step so essen- 
tial, that no progress can be made in the divine life 
without it ; we allude to the knowledge that he is 
helpless. It is true, child of Adam, that unrenew- 
ed by grace, " you are yet without strength — you 
cannot serve the Lord." Paralysed in every mem- 
ber, enervated in every limb, you lie prostrate 
without the power to rise ; and the dead and the 
unborn have not less capacity to glorify God on 
earth than you have. Shrink not from the thorough 
conviction of the humiliating fact. Let it be 
deeply impressed on the inmost recesses of the 
soul. Nor can you be too much abased from a 
sense of impotence and disqualification for all that 
is spiritually good. In this condition, we shall 
suppose the individual whom we address finds him- 
self, without power, without knowledge, without 
capacity, without spiritual life, and sensible that he 
is deficient in all. 

If this, my reader, is your state, earnestly we 



96 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

entreat you to proceed in your inquiries, and to 
ascertain, as in the sight of the Omniscient, if to 
helplessness, in your case, is not added guilt. Are 
there not many instances in which you have offend- 
ed, and do offend, God ? Do you keep perfectly 
His law, which is holy, just, and good ? To what 
do your desires and affections tend ? To God or 
the world ; to sin or holiness ; to what is earthly 
or what is heavenly ? There is an opposition in- 
each of these, that makes it impossible we can 
love what is so diametrically contrary ; one of each 
only possesses our hearts, which possesses yours ? 
Do you delight in intercourse with God, in prayer 
and praise ? Is it your chief ambition to do His 
will ? Is it nothing to you should men condemn,, 
if God justifies ? Do you thirst for worldly grati- 
fications, or for those purer joys which are at God's 
right hand for evermore ? Or can you break the 
commandments of God without remorse ? — virtual- 
ly saying, " I will not have the Lord to reign over 
me." If, when entering on these, or similar in- 
quiries, defect be apparent ; if you are sensible, in 
the words of inspiration, which cannot delude, 
"that in you dwelleth no good thing; that the 
whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint ; that 
from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there 
is no soundness ; that by nature you are a child of 
wrath, even as others ;" — if this be your heart-felt 
experience, then the very ground-work of Chris- 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 97 

tianity is found in you ; and warranted by the 
Word of God, we would say, for you there is 
hope. The entrance to the road to heaven is se- 
cured ; and if the threshold be merely crossed, the 
path lies open. Oh! turn not back; move on- 
wards, "ye are not far from the kingdom of God." 
"Before you is set life and death, blessing and 
cursing, choose ye, this day, whom ye will serve." 
It is the Spirit of God convinces of sin ;* and 
where an abiding perception that we are dead in 
trespasses and sins is implanted by his divine 
agency, in the encouraging language that was ad- 
dressed to the Church of old, we would say, 
" Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory 
of the Lord is risen upon thee." 

The next advance in the way to eternal blessed- 
ness, for which-, if in these circumstances, you are 
prepared, is the most essential, and the most de- 
cisive, as to the prospect of reaching the promised 
rest, that can be taken. It invariably obtains all 
necessary aid for the helpless, provides a healing 
balm for soul-sickness, and ensures a free pardon 
for the most guilty ! — We mean, the acceptance 
of Christ as our Saviour. 

The inestimable blessings of His salvation are 
offered to us, — not forced upon us. They are 
freely given, but they must be received ; they are 

*John, xvi. 8. 
9 



98 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

held out, but they must be taken. There is but 
one method of communication with Him "that 
liveth, and was dead, and is alive for evermore," by 
which we can make known our willingness to par- 
ticipate in the benefits of His sacrifice, — and that 
is prayer. By prayer we hold converse with God, 
and the helpless and the guilty may, with assur- 
ance of success, implore strength and forgiveness 
from Him who is mighty to save. "When he 
saw that there was no man, and wondered that there 
was no intercessor, his arm brought salvation." 
That powerful arm, on which creation leans, bore 
the mighty load, beneath the weight of which men 
and angels would have sunk. And well-nigh had 
He fainted under it, when strong crying, and tears, 
and bloody sweat, were wrung from him, ere he 
could say, " It is finished." Hear, and exult, in- 
habitant of the world ! He whose justice demanded 
satisfaction for sins that cannot be numbered, it is 
He that pronounced the work of redemption " fin- 
ished." It is not half accomplished, it is not un- 
certainly accomplished, it is altogether finished. 
At creation " God saw every thing that he had 
made, and behold, it was very good." And like 
the other works of God, this work is also perfect ; 
and He who reigns supreme uttered, " It is finish- 
ed." And what potent arm shall in an individual 
case hinder the triumphant Redeemer from confer- 
ring the redemption which he hath finished ! "Ye 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 99 

are God's building," said an apostle. And which 
of us, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down 
first and counteth the cost, whether he have suffi- 
cient to finish it ? And shall this Man, this 
Emanuel, " begin to build, and not be able to 
finish?" Or shall he^, meeting the strong man 
armed, with thousands of his lieges, send an em- 
bassage of peace, because he is unequal for the 
strife ? No, surely. He counted the cost, and 
great as the cost was, the priee was fully and wil- 
lingly paid. " Jesus knowing all things that 
should come upon him, went forth, and said unto 
them, Whom seek ye ?" " I have a baptism to be 
baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be 
accomplished ?" " The cup which my Father hath 
given me, shall I not drink it V The work is 
done, and the redeemed, individually and collec- 
tively, are safe in the everlasting arms, and none 
can pluck them thence ! 

But what is finished ? Not the salvation of men 
universally, — for all, we are assured, are not saved, 
but the salvation of those who come to Christ to 
receive what He lived and died to bestow ; a free 
pardon, entire sanctification, and eternal happiness. 
" Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto 
her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her in- 
iquity is pardoned ; for she hath received of the 
Lord's hand double for all her sins."* " Christ loved 

* Isaiah xl. 2. 



100 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

the Church, and gave himself for it ; that He might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by 
the Word ; that He might present it to Himself a 
glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing ; but that it should be holy, and 
without blemish."* " The gift of God is eternal 
life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."t And again 
we ask, are these the gifts for which you plead at 
a throne of grace ? Do you importunately pray 
for forgiveness of your daily multiplying transgres- 
sions for the Redeemer's sake ? And do you, with 
equal earnestness, implore to be renewed in the 
spirit of your mind, to be made a new creature, 
one of Christ's peculiar people who are zealous of 
good works ? And is the purchased possession, 
the inheritance of the saints, all your salvation and 
all your desire ? If so, hear the joyful sound, your 
redemption is finished. " Christ hath redeemed 
you from the curse of the law, being made a curse 
for you."j: " God hath from the beginning chosen 
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, 
and belief of the truth."|| " This is the record, that 
God hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is 
in his Son."§ It is by receiving what Christ pur- 
chased, and offers, that we " enter in through the 
gates to the city." This is the good old way by 



* Eph. v. 25-27. t Rom. vi. 23. 
t Gal. iii. 13. || 2 Thes. ii. 13. § 1 John v. 11, 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 101 

which, if we walk therein, we shall find rest for 
our souls. A way opened by anguish and death 
on the part of the Surety ; but a way pleasant and 
easy of access on the part of the redeemed. There 
is no other way by which what we need can be 
given us. — Righteousness, salification, strength, 
atonement, we want and have not. Thus, and 
thus alone, are gifts so precious obtained. Left to 
ourselves we must faint, and fall, and die the second 
death ; supported by Omnipotence, " we are made 
more than conquerors through Him that loved us." 
When united to Christ, the work of renovating the 
soul becomes His, not ours. " We are His work- 
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."* 
" If this counsel or work be of men it might come 
to nought. But if it be of God, it cannot be over- 
thrown, for who shall be found to fight against 
God ?" 

These are the cheering assurances with which 
the Word of God abounds ; and which are ad- 
dressed to the whole human race who seek an in- 
terest in the Redeemer, to him that thirsts, to him 
that asks, to whomsoever will. But having applied 
to Christ for his finished salvation, and thus laid 
our help upon Him for all spiritual benefits, for 
peace here, and blessedness eternally; are we 
thenceforward, it may be inquired, become a por- 

* Eph. ii. 10. 
9* 



102 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

tion of his little flock, to whom it is the Father's 
good pleasure to give the kingdom ? 

We have already stated that the work of redemp 
tion is completed, and that our part is to accept 
of it ; therefore, in so doing we are equally safe as 
if we were now on the right hand of our Judge. 
And yet there are many who deceive themselves 
with the idea that they have accepted the Saviour's 
offered gifts, when in fact there is nothing that they 
are less solicitous to obtain. And in the acceptance 
of the Redeemer's purchase as a whole, insincerity 
may be detected in those, who frequently say, 
" Peace, peace, when there is no peace." It is the 
reality, not the semblance, of willingness, that 
brings any sinner to the foot of the cross, and thus 
ensures his salvation. The most unlimited of the 
Gospel invitations, and none can be more free, are 
nevertheless addressed to those who will, for they 
only receive them. Some are willing to receive 
pardon, who are unwilling that their hearts should 
be renewed. They desire not that the image of 
God may be restored, which was lost by the fall. 
Yet the design of redemption is to make men holy 
as well as happy, the one being the consequence of 
the other. Its efficacy to transform is ever visible 
in the souls of the redeemed. It is in us, and with 
us, and by us, that the Spirit of God operates ; and 
to effect the work of redemption irrespective of 
the renewal of the heart to holiness, is impossible. 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 103 

The Almighty, we may reverently affirm, cannot 
make a slave of the world, continuing such, hap- 
py ; for the happiness God offers he is unwilling 
to receive ; it is distasteful to him ; it is no happi- 
ness to him. The utterance of a few cold words 
in the presence of the Eternal, cannot deceive the 
Omnipresent Searcher of the heart. He knows 
what we truly wish, and will not " give ear unto a 
prayer that goeth out of feigned lips." The desire 
of sanctification is one of the strongest evidences 
of having received the atonement, and it is inva- 
riably found in those who sincerely seek the re- 
demption of Jesus, for it is an essential part of that 
redemption which his people seek. The Church 
is sanctified in Christ ;* and its inheritance is among 
them which are sanctified.! To save us, and yet 
leave us unchanged, is as great a contradiction in 
terms, as to say a corpse is made alive when it re- 
mains dead. It is from our sins that Jesus came 
to save.J 

But, should any of the careless or the worldly 
say, they are desirous to become Christians indeed, 
to come to Christ for all his gifts, and to be sancti- 
fied as well as pardoned ; where, then, is the proof 
that these are their desires ? What we are anxious 
should be ours, we are ready to embrace every 
mean to acquire ; and what means have they ever 

* 1 Cor. i. 2. t Acts. xxvi. 13. \ Matt. i. 21. 



104 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

used to promote their sanctification ? None can 
be successful, it has been observed, without appli- 
cation in earnest to Him who " giveth power to the 
faint, and who, to them that have no might, in- 
creased strength." Yet, subsequent to this, and 
depending upon the assistance thus promised, all 
will be resorted to that the Word of God enjoins, 
seeking direction in the sacred page, and from the 
spirit of truth. Our daily intercourse with society, 
as well as our solemn assemblies ; our silent me- 
ditations, as well as our outward duties ; our in- 
ward thoughts, and our external actions, all may 
conduce to sanctification ; and in every thing the 
Christian strives to advance and accomplish this 
most desired end. He knows, indeed, that " with- 
out Christ he can do nothing ;" but with equal cer- 
tainity he rejoices to know that "it is God which 
worketh in him, both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure." And thus, if the worldliness of our af- 
fections gives the lie to our profession, no asser- 
tions, however positively affirmed, can prove its 
reality. 

But here one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells 
may be ready to exclaim, " Ah ! you say truly, it 
is by the sanctification of their natures that the 
disciples of Jesus are distinguished. They are 
blameless and harmless, the son of God without 
rebuke, shining as lights in the world, and holding 
forth the word of life. In Christ Jesus neither 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 105 

circumcision, availeth any thing, nor uncircumcis- 
ion, but a new creature ; and would to God that 
this mark of belonging to his family on earth were 
mine ! But I can lay no claim to a gift so precious 
as that of the influence of divine grace. My heart 
is so hard, my affections so worldly, and my good 
deeds so few, and so defiled by sin, that I must 
conclude I am still alienated from God, and have 
no inheritance in his kingdom. — And who taught 
you, disciple of Jesus, to feel, that the gift of divine 
grace is precious ? No man naturally esteems it 
so. The gifts relating exclusively to time, and no 
other, are what the worldly seek. Give them 
health, and wealth, and pleasure here, and spirit- 
ual attainments they never covet. Alienation of 
heart from God, which you dread, belongs not to 
you, for you wish to participate in that holiness of 
which God is the author, the depository, the foun- 
tain, and, by comparison, the solitary instance. 
"Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy 
name ? for thou only art holy."* Every longing after 
perfection comes from its source ; each prayer to 
be freed from sin is the effect of the operation of 
the Spirit; the desire of grace is grace. There- 
fore, take encouragement ; the soul whose chief 
ambition is to grow in holiness, may rest secure in 
the Saviour's promised aid. " He that hath begun 

* Rev. xv. 4 



106 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

a good work in you, will perform it until the day 
of Jesus Christ." Forget not that the work is his. 
" Every one that is called by my name, I have cre- 
ated him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I 
have made him."* Let the belief of this animating 
truth excite to more earnest prayer, to more un- 
wearied endeavour, and to more implicit trust. 
" In the Lord you have righteousness and strength. 
And in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justi- 
fied, and glory."f 

There is another class of men whose consciences 
may convince them of the truth of what has been 
stated, — that they are helpless, that they are guil- 
ty, and that they must become regenerated, and 
walk in newness of life, ere they can be be admit- 
ted into the presence of the Eternal ; and yet, 
strange as it may seem, make no attempt, and form 
no resolution, to learn the way of peace. - Oh! 
that but one in these circumstances would listen 
while we entreat him " to be reconciled to God? 
These wondrous words are not ours, they are what 
the Holy Ghost indites. They are found in the 
embassage of reconciliation, which the Almighty, 
by his servants, promulgated. " Now then," said 
an apostle, " we are ambassadors for Christ, as 
though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, 
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God ."J 

* Isa. xliii. 7. t Isa. xlv. 24> 25. X 2 Cor. v. 20. 



THE WAY OP SALVATION. 107 

Whence language thus entreative, thus condescend- 
ing, thus marvellous ? — God beseeches ! — Christ 
prays ! Hear, heavens, and be astonished, O 
earth, it is because man will not be reconciled 
to God ! " An enemy in mind by wicked works,"* 
— " a friend of the world, and an enemy of God,"t 
— is feeble, dying, ruined man ! And how will a 
strife thus unequal terminate ? On whom will the 
palm of victory be conferred ? Oh ! be persuaded 
to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish 
from the way." Truly may He say, "I called, 
and ye refused ;" I called ! — I besought ! — I pray- 
ed ! And still the offers of reconciliation sound in 
your ears. " God is in Christ, reconciling the 
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses 
unto them." " All things are ready, come unto the 
marriage." 

Possibly, the heart of some one who peruses 
these lines, may be enlarged to run the way of 
God's commandments. Possibly, a salvation thus 
graciously, thus freely offered, some of our readers 
may feel inclined to accept. If so, with earnest- 
ness we would press the necessity of not allowing 
another hour to elapse, ere the life of faith be be- 
gun. Many have designed to become followers of 
the Lamb, and that design has never been put in 
execution. 

* Col. i. 24. tJas. iv. i, 



108 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

"In human hearts what bolder thoughts can rise 
Than man's presumption on to-morrow's dawn? 
Where is to-morrow? — in another world. 
For numbers this is certain ; the reverse 
Is sure to none ; and yet, on this Perhaps, 
This Feradventure, infamous for lies, 
As on a rock of adamant, we build 
Our mountain-hopes ; spin our eternal schemes, 
And, big with life's futurities, expire." 

Without delay, therefore, let the die be cast on 
which your all depends. Hasten to a throne of 
grace. Plead your necessities, for to whom can 
you go ? Christ hath the words of eternal life : 
plead his unlimited invitations, which extend to 
every creature : plead the price he paid to win 
souls to himself: plead the triumphs of his cross 
in every new trophy of his victory : plead the de- 
struction, thus promoted, of Satan's empire, and 
the enlargement of the kingdom of God : and ever 
remember that the Redeemer lends a willing ear 
to the faintest cry for help. " Lord save us, we 
perish," infallibly secures the outstretched arm of 
the Mightiest. He is, as has just been shown,, 
more read}?- to extend it for our succour, than we 
are to receive its aid. But if brought to rest upon 
that which is the prop of worlds, there is no risk 
that the support will fail. Fail it cannot while the 
strength of Jehovah remains unimpaired, and his 
purposes of grace unaltered. " Saith the Lord of 
hosts, I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore ye 
sons of Jacob are not consumed." 

Yet, think not that if become a child of God by 



THE WAY OF SALVATION. 109 

faith in Christ Jesus, nothing is thenceforward ne- 
cessary for you to do. It were folly to suppose 
so. The labourer, knowing that God must give 
the increase, does not neglect to till the ground-; 
nor does the mariner, believing that the winds and 
the waves must bring him to his desired haven, 
omit to provide the rudder and the canvass. In 
these instances, and many others, we easily com- 
prehend that God works by means. And, although 
the great work of redemption is indeed finished in 
respect of the price that is paid, and the power 
that is given, still, the means by which it is accom- 
plished is through a change in the heart of man, 
influencing the life. In one sense, therefore, from 
the time that this salvation is received, the work is 
only begun. Then must commence the good fight 
of faith; then the wrestling against principalities 
and powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual 
wickedness in high places ; to withstand which, 
the impenetrable and invincible armour of God 
must be taken. Strong in the Lord and in the 
power of his might, success is certain, and yet a 
warfare must be encountered, and a conflict sus- 
tained, that terminates only with life. Energy 
for the combat, and strength to prevail, is derived 
solely from God ; it is " he that teacheth the hands 
to war and the fingers to fight. He is the For- 
tress, High Tower, Deliverer, and Shield, who 
subdueth the people under us." And still it is 

10 



110 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

we who fight, — still it is in mom that His strength 
is made perfect. And it is on our weakness and 
infirmity that the power of Christ rests.* 

It is important to ascertain the nature of this 
warfare, we shall, therefore, make it the subject of 
the following chapter. And may assistance be 
granted to us, as we proceed in our inquiries re- 
specting those essential truths, which, when be- 
lieved and practised, conduce to the glory of God, 
and ensure the salvation of men. 

*2Cor. xii. 9. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 



Mankind, by nature, in a state of warfare with God— Christian's warfare is 
with Satan— Strife with evil not natural to man — Actions of unregenerated, 
evil — Characteristics of Christian's warfare : — Much in earnect ; deep hu- 
mility ; of an exterminating quality— Certainty of the result — Are we en- 
gaged in this warfare 1 — Christians should use their weapons — Redemption 
irrespective of any thing in us — This warfare shall cease. 



" Tell him withal 
His danger, and from whom ; what enemy, 
Late fall'n himself from heaven, is plotting now 
The fall of others, from like state of bliss : 
By violence 1 No, for that shall be withstood ; 
But by deceit and lies." 

To constitute a state of warfare there must be 
opposition. If we fight, we must have something 
wherewith to contend ; where there is agreement, 
there can be no warfare. 

In the preceding chapter, it has been noticed, 
that the fallen descendants of Adam are in this 
state with the Most High God ; that worms of this 
earth contend with Him who reigns supreme over 
matter and spirit ; that the infinite, eternal, and un- 
changeable Jehovah is willing that the unequal 
strife should cease, and sends an embassage of 



112 THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 

reconciliation ; but that men, generally, will not be 
reconciled to God. 

The Christian's warfare, of which we are now 
to^treat, is the opposite of that in which the ene- 
mies of God engage. It is a warfare, not with 
God, but with Satan ; and, unlike the opposition 
which defenceless man raises against sovereign 
power, with condign ruin impending, it is accom- 
panied by strength from on high, provided with 
complete armour, and ensured of victory ! The 
strife in which the Christian is engaged, is with 
that against which his Divine Master likewise 
fights — all evil : " Whatsoever opposeth or exalteth 
itself above that is called God ; all the deceivable- 
ness of unrighteousness in them that perish." But 
the evil from which the greatest conflict arises is 
internal : "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and 
the spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary 
the one to the other." The work of renovation 
has been begun in the soul of that man who is 
made willing to receive Christ in all his offices as 
his Saviour. And to him a new birth has been 
given, and a new principle is implanted, whence 
the warfare with evil originates. The tendency of 
this creation in the soul is to stem the torrent of 
iniquity, whether from within or from without ; to 
dethrone the arch-deceiver of the nations ; and to 
restore to his kingdom, which is established in the 
heart, the rightful sovereign, Zion's King. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 113 

It were comparatively easy to preserve the con- 
duct void of offence, but the purity which the be- 
liever strives to attain reaches to the inward emo- 
tions of his souL His strife is, chiefly, with the 
sinful propensity ; with that to which he is natu- 
rally prone ; and herein lies the special difficulty 
with which this fight is carried forward, and the 
indispensable necessity of the divine aid, which is 
afforded in this warfare. 

By nature, " the imagination of the thoughts of 
the heart is only evil continually." Therefore, to 
strive with evil implies a direction given to the 
feelings and motives of action, which, since the 
fall, does not otherwise exist. No man, without 
the influences of the Holy Spirit, strives with evil. 
Evil is the atmosphere in which the natural man 
breathes : " Ye, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts unto your children," said our Lord; " The 
heart of the sons of men is full of evil" said 
Solomon. 

Nor let it be affirmed, that the actions of unre- 
generated men are often good. They may be so 
in their results, but still they are evil in themselves. 
If the fountain be impure, so are the streams which 
flow from it ; and from an unconverted heart never 
issued a holy deed. Many an action that seems 
praiseworthy, if weighed in the balance of the 
Sanctuary, will be found wanting. Some sinister 
motive, some selfish intention, lurks unobserved, 

10* 



114 THE CHRISTIANAS WARFARE. 

often unknown to the individual himself, which 
alters the character of the act : " Who can bring 
a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." 

It may be useful to inquire more particularly 
into the distinguishing characteristics of the Chris- 
tian's warfare with evil ; which may not only ena- 
ble us to ascertain if we are engaged in it, but may 
be assisting and encouraging to us in prosecuting 
the conflict. 

And one mark which is indispensably necessary 
to prove that we fight with evil, is, that we are 
much in earnest. To fight requires energy, and 
while a combat lasts, so must the resistance ; when 
we yield, warfare ceases. The warrior is inspired 
with an ardent desire of conquest ; and in encoun- 
tering formidable opponents, resolute determination 
can alone give promise of success. A pusillani- 
mous spirit is not fit for battle ; cowards court de- 
feat. And thus it is with him who fights under 
the banner of the Cross. He is in league with 
heaven against sin and Satan, and in the strength 
of grace, he is resolutely determined to combat and 
to subdue every spiritual foe. Earnestly he longs 
for deliverance from a thraldom so burdensome as 
the dominion of sin. Hateful as the monster has 
become to him in every form, it is still the most 
abhorred when detected in his own breast. Thence, 
by any means, he would expel it. Weapons and 
armour are given him ; the sword of the Spirit, 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 115 

the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, 
the helmet of salvation ; and thus accoutred, he 
valiantly goes forth, conquering and to conquer. 
With that " abominable thing which God hates," 
he will hold no parley, for the will of God is one 
with his ; and his most fervent prayer is, " Order 
my steps in Thy word, and let not any iniquity 
have dominion over me." 

To this earnest desire of freedom from sin, may 
be added another mark, which is equally charac- 
teristic of the Christian's warfare, that it is accom- 
panied by deep humility. It is not in the earnest- 
ness with which he strives, or in his desire of con- 
quest, that the Christian confides. Upon his own 
prowess or strength he has no reliance. And if 
there be a truth which is impressed with a convic- 
tion that is irresistible upon his heart, it is this, — 
that to root out evil from the soul of man is the 
work only of the Mightiest. The opposing prin- 
ciple with which he contends he feels to be strong, 
and knows to be inherent ; ability to subdue it, in 
himself he has none. " Not by might, nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
And, " He hath done marvellous things ; His right 
hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the vic- 
tory," is the triumphant shout the redeemed shall 
hereafter raise. To be in earnest, is indeed a proof 
that we have entered the lists with the destroyer, 
and are fighting in a strength that is not our own 



116 THE CHRISTIANAS WARFARE. 

But it is from the power that is given to the faint, 
and from the increased strength of them that have 
no might, that they that wait upon the Lord, mount 
up with wings as eagles ; run, and are not weary ; 
walk, and are not faint. And, confiding in the pro- 
mises, " From all your filthiness, and from all your 
idols, will I cleanse you ; a new heart also will I 
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; 
and I will take away the stony heart out of your 
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh : and 
I willput my Spirit within you, and cause you to 
walk in mj statutes, and ye shall keep my judg- 
ments, and do them ;" hope is invigorated, power 
is given, purity imparted. And " though he fall, 
he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord up- 
holdeth him with his hand ;" therefore, united with 
humility is the assurance of safety ; and if we fight 
in that combat wherein God himself is engaged, 
" out of weakness we are made strong." 

There is another characteristic of this conflict, 
which ought not to be omitted in the consideration 
of it, — that it is of an exterminating quality. The 
opposing principle and that which is opposed, can- 
not ultimately both live ; peace can never be re- 
stored ; one must die. If enlisted in the warfare 
with evil, either the Spirit which conflicts, or the 
evil with which he contends, must finally cease to 
exert its influence on the soul. In this warfare 
there is no quarter given ; uprooting is the aim, 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 117 

and destruction the design, of the combatants. 
Neither truce, nor cessation, nor retreat, are prac- 
ticable ; having engaged in the Christian warfare 
we must fight to the end. If evil exists in the 
heart so must conflict. Arms of defence and of 
contest must never be laid down. Victory itself 
must not satisfy till the triumph be complete, and 
the death-blow final. If we sleep, so will not the 
principle we oppose. The adversary is vigilant, 
" seeking whom he may devour ;" and his purpose 
is to crush the good seed, and give the mortal 
wound to all that is of heavenly origin in the soul. 
And equally is it the purpose of the Redeemer, the 
Spirit, and the redeemed, that evil shall die where 
grace lives. They shall exist together while in the 
body striving for the mastery, but an eternal sepa- 
ration shall be put between them, for assimilate 
they cannot. " What communion hath light with 
darkness ?" 

And this leads us to an obvious conclusion, that 
the Christian's warfare with evil is attended with 
certainty as to the result. Under what banner 
does he fight ? Who is his Confederate, his Ally ? 
Who the Captain of his salvation ? — He whose 
glory covers the heavens, whose brightness is as 
the light, by whom the everlasting mountains are 
scattered, and the perpetual hills do bow. And 
the sun and the moon stand still in their habitation 
at the light of His arrows, and at the shining of 



118 THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 

His glittering spear. It is He Jehovah, who 
goeth forth for the salvation of his people. " And 
at what time He shall speak concerning a nation, 
and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull 
down, and to destroy it," where is the potent arm 
that shall successfully contend against Him ? " His 
hand hath formed the crooked serpent,"* and shall 
He not subjugate that which He hath formed ? 
May not the Omnipotent address the great enemy 
of souls as He did the Assyrians, — " I know thy 
abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and 
thy rage against me. Because thy rage against 
me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, 
therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my 
bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the 
way by which thou earnest." " The arrows of 
God are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies ; 
whereby the people fall under Him. And the bur- 
den of sin shall be taken from off the shoulder, 
and the yoke from off the neck ; and the yoke shall 
be destroyed, because of thy anointing. And the 
strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a 
spark, and they shall both burn together, and none 
shall quench them." 

Such is the security that they shall ultimately 
triumph, with which the children of God combat 
with evil. " They run not as uncertainly ; they 

* Job xxvi. 13. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 119 

fight not as one that beateth the air." They know 
that victory is ensured to them ; and that although 
beset with foes the most inveterate, resolute, and 
powerful, still, even while the battle lasts, the in- 
habitants of Zion may "cry out and shout, for 
great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of 
them." 

And now let the question, with seriousness and 
impartiality, be put, — Are we engaged in this war- 
fare ? — It is not the nature of strife to be hidden 
from him that strives. To war is an act ; no man 
fights without being conscious that he does so. 
And if we have never felt a struggle between the 
evil propensities that are natural to us in our fallen 
state, and the new nature which is given to believ- 
ers in Jesus, this warfare does not exist in us. 
And if we have never resisted evil in the strength 
of grace, the life of faith is not begun ; we are 
yet in our sins. The very first acting of spiritual 
life is opposition to every thing that is contrary to 
the holiness of God. Without internal contest the 
heart must be altogether good, or altogether bad. 
If there is any good thing implanted within, it 
must oppose that which is evil : or any evil pro- 
pensity will oppose that which is good. Princi- 
ples so adverse must contend ; they are at the 
furthest possible point of separation from each 
other; and where both are found in the same 
breast, although one should be weak and the other 



120 THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 

strong, still conflict naturally follows. But there 
is no soul on earth free from evil. " There is none 
that doeth good, no not one."* " All have sinned, 
and have come short of the glory of God ;"t where- 
fore, if an effort to subdue corruption be not main- 
tained, it becomes manifest that we are destitute 
of good, that " every imagination of the thoughts 
of the heart is only evil continually." Shrink not, 
therefore, from a discovery thus palpably true, that 
in the breast where the Christian's warfare is un- 
known, dwelleth no good thing. He who " delights 
in the law of God after the inward man, feels ano- 
ther law in his members, warring against the law 
of his mind.":): 

And yet it is possible some child of God may 
be ready to exclaim, " Alas ! I know nothing of 
the conflict you have described ; I never experi- 
enced this warfare ; and if it is a necessary conse- 
quence of being born of God, a proof that we 
belong to Christ's little flock, I must have been 
deceiving myself m the hopes I entertain of being 
interested in the Saviour's precious redemption, 
and that I am walking in the narrow way that 
leadeth to life." You conceive, Christian, that you 
are unacquainted with this warfare. But have 
you never felt a proneness to any thing that is con- 
trary to the pure and holy will of God? Have 

* Rom. iii. 10. t lb. iii. 23. I lb. vii. 22, 23. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 121 

you never discerned an internal propensity to 
aught that is not in accordance with the perfect 
precepts of Christ? Have you never detected 
any sinful tendency within ? Does no unholy 
thought ever obtrude ? And is no bias to what is 
unworthy in action ever discoverable ? And if 
you must plead guilty to these charges, have you 
never prayed for strength to overcome evil inclina- 
tions ? And have you never striven, trusting in 
Almighty aid, to conquer every evil desire ; and to 
subdue, through the power of God, all in your 
soul that is inimical to his purity ? And have 
there not been times when you have fallen, and 
when the complaint has been wrung from you, " wo 
is me for I have sinned V s And have there not 
been periods when grace has triumphed, and when 
Satan has seemed bruised under your feet ? It 
must be so. There is not an individual with no 
tendency to sin ; and there is no genuine believer 
who does not strive to live a life of holiness, and 
to bring forth fruit unto God. And these contrary 
propensities, the wish to do good while evil is pre- 
sent, or the tendency to evil when holiness is im- 
planted, create the Christian warfare, and induce 
the conflict of which we write. And although 
some of the disciples of Christ may not have been 
accustomed to apply these terms to what they have 
experienced, still, grace and sin in the same breast, 
like fire and water, must produce opposition, which 

11 



122 the christian's warfare. 

can only cease through the extinction of one of 
them. 

To all who have come to Christ for salvation, 
therefore, we say, use the weapons that are placed 
in your hands, and fight against sin. Who goeth 
a warfare at his own charges ? It is on the ability 
and strength of Him who commands, that the se- 
curity of conquest depends. It is Christ who 
enables his people to fight. It is He who " divides 
the spoil" with the weak and the strong. But 
beware that you do not rest satisfied with acknow- 
ledging the necessity of this warfare. Be very 
solicitous to engage in it resolutely, and persever- 
ingly. Let not the assent be generally given, that 
thus it must be, without the particular application 
to your own individual case. With what tempta- 
tions are you assailed ? Against what particular 
sins do you strive ? What iniquity most easily 
besets you ? Is it pride, or worldliness, or selfish- 
ness, or more glaring evil, that in you must be 
subdued ? These, or any other sins, will struggle 
for the mastery; but courageously fight on, for 
" greater is He that is in you than he that is in the 
world." Victory is ensured. Sin and Satan shall 
be vanquished, and all evil banished from the souls 
of the redeemed finally and for ever. The song 
of triumph shall burst in shouts of exultation from 
the multitude upon whom the second death hath 
no power, who are without fault before the throne 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 123 

of God. Without fault, — not only without trans- 
gression, without crime, but without the slightest 
taint of error, or mixture of defect. And shall 
not the state of warfare the believer has left, add 
to the sweetness of the repose and rest of heaven's 
joy ? No conflict there, for there is nothing with 
which to contend ; within and without purity 
reigns ; nothing that defiles can enter. Wherefore, 
let the assurance of success quicken exertion, and 
enspirit even during partial defeat. Forget not 
that it is against the holiness of God that the mon- 
ster, Sin, arises ; that it must be vanquished, or 
God dethroned ; and, that where it shall exist eter- 
nally in the world of wo, it shall be a prisoner en- 
chained, a trophy of the vengeance of a justly 
incensed Deity. 

In league, Christian, with the Eternal, lay not 
down your arms. " This is the will of God, even 
your sanctification." Let each returning year, and 
month, and day, be marked by new conquests over 
spiritual foes and evil propensities. Let your 
thoughts, words, and actions, be guarded with jea- 
lous care, and all impurity of heart and life be 
fought against by the aid of power from on high. 
Thus only can you be satisfied that the principle 
of opposition to sin is found in you, viz., grace ; 
and this victorious principle, where it is found, 
shall reign through righteousness unto eternal life. 
The faintest struggle to overcome evil, proceeding 



124 the christian's warfare. 

from the desire of holiness, is big with conse- 
quences unutterably glorious, for on the soul that 
strives against sin, God operates. And where the 
foundation is laid by God, there shall " he bring 
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, 
Grace, grace, unto it." 

This, then, is the way of salvation, to come to 
Christ just as we are, guilty and helpless, for the 
redemption which He has accomplished, and freely 
offers, — conscious that we can do nothing good, to 
cast ourselves in prayer at the Redeemer's feet, 
relying on his mercy, and believing that there is 
no human being who is not welcome to reap the 
benefit of His perfect life and meritorious sacri- 
fice, — that He is more willing to receive us than 
we can be to obtain the blessedness he bestows. 
Thus we become interested in the finished work 
of Jesus ; and are warranted to believe that we are 
accounted perfect in the sight of God, through- tEe 
perfection of our Surety, whose righteousness is 
imputed to his people ; and that all our guilt is 
cancelled by the sufferings and death of the im- 
maculate Lamb, who bore the load of Divine 
wrath, which was due to us, as an atonement for 
the sins of many. And, as the best deeds, even 
of believers, are polluted by sinful emotions, and, 
therefore, are deserving of punishment rather than 
reward, an abiding conviction must rest on our 
minds, that no work of ours can entitle us to any 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 125 

^ yet that from the time when we become 
Christians indeed, a principle is implanted which 
gradually exterminates evil, and leads to God. 
We must, therefore, henceforward, depend upon 
him for an ability to live to his praise, and in his 
strength fight the good fight of faith, striving 
against sin, which believers only are empowered 
to do. 

The redemption of God's people is totally irre- 
spective of themselves, so that should they die im- 
mediately after their conversion, and before they 
had time to prove the sincerity of their faith by a 
change of life, they are safe for eternity, because 
they are forgiven and accepted by imputation of 
Christ's life and death. Yet the benefit of this 
imputation would avail little did not Christ work in 
us, as well as for us ; nothing that defiles can enter 
heaven ; or were it possible that a sinner, continu- 
ing such, were brought there, he would bring hell 
with him. The grand design, therefore, of redemp- 
tion, is to " purify the heart by faith," thus fitting 
sinful man for the presence and the enjoyment of 
God. And when, as is the more common case, 
believers live to evince to the world the new nature 
they have received, the influences of the blessed 
^Spirit will appear in their whole life and conduct, 
evidencing that they are " a peculiar people, zeal- 
ous of good works," — that they feel " they are not 
their own, for they are bought with a price ; and, 

11* 



126 the christian's warfare. 

therefore, are desirous to glorify God in their body 
and spirit, which are his." 

Believer in Jesus, take courage ! the Christian's 
warfare shall cease. Your heart shall be purified 
from all alloy of sin. In the realms of bliss there 
shall be no strife. In the inner man shall be unity 
of purpose, of desire, of propensity, for holiness 
not merely predominates, but alone exists there. 
Within and without discord is unknown to the glo- 
rified spirits of the redeemed. No jarring note, no 
tendency to evil, nothing to hurt or destroy, but 
universal harmony prevails among heaven's inhab- 
itants. It shall be felt that the heart is completely 
renovated,— that the likeness of God is anew im- 
planted,— that sin is extinct in the soul,— that it 
can no longer fight or tempt, for it is excluded, — ■■ 
good no more shall struggle with evil, for evil is 
shut out. The battle is won, the foe is disarmed, 
his forces are routed, they are driven from the field 
enmity is slain, and can rise no more for ever* 
"In patience, therefore, possess your souls. 
Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely 
come, it will not tarry. And he that hath wrought 
you for the self-same thing, is God, who also hath 
given you the earnest of the Spirit." 

ThuS, believers in Jesus, while on earth, are 
surrounded by what is inimical to the life of godli- 
ness. They experience in their own breasts op- 
position to that new nature they have received, and 



THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE. 127 

which is of heavenly origin ; and the world, in 
many ways, proves a hindrance to the growth of 
the good seed their God hath implanted. But the 
time is short. " The earth and the works that are 
therein shall be burnt up ; and, according to his 
promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness." " Therefore," said 
an apostle, " grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And to 
him be glory, both now and for ever. Amen. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 



Christian's Warfare shall end in peace — Change in Believers more or less 
rapid — Their ; love of holiness — Attributes of God incomprehensible ; love, 
light, holiness, life, eternal existence— Infinitude of God's excellencies — 
Christian's delight in God — Holiness and happiness inseparable— The de- 
sire of holiness given in order to its gratification — Holiness progressive — Do 
toe feel that holiness and happiness are inseparable 1 — How are we affected 
towards its infinitude ?— Heaven's bliss inconceivable. 



I " O for a glimpse of Him my soul adores ! 

As the chas'd hart, amid the desert waste, 

Pants for the living stream : for Him who made her, 

So pants the thirsty soul, amid the blank 

Of sublunary joys." 

"And all the palm-crown'd sons of holiness, 
With garments wash'd in their Redeemer's blood, 
Shout their hosannahs round his throne, and join'd 
With angels, and to angels equal made, 
Bathe in the fount of ever-during bliss." 

It has been shown in the preceding chapters, 
that the believer's state while on earth is a state of 
conflict ;. that opposition to the life of faith may be 
anticipated from the people of the world, by whom 
he is surrounded, and that opposing principles are 
implanted in his own breast, which struggle for the 
victory. 



THE CHRISTIANAS LOVE OF HOLINESS. 129 

Happily, however, this condition shall not al- 
ways endure. It is but the introduction to a state 
of perfect peace, in which such a conflict never 
fails to terminate ; for the triumphs of the believer in 
Jesus over sin and Satan shall be everlasting The 
soul that fights the good fight of faith, is partaker 
of that grace w T hich shall at length purify it from 
all internal depravity, and fit it entirely for heaven's 
joy. To promote this glorious end, the children 
of the kingdom are continued in this world <?f s trife. 
They must be rendered meet for the inheritance of 
the saints in light, ere they can be admitted to join 
the angelic throng ; and the heart must be renova- 
ted and changed, ere it can enter the society of 
the blessed. 

This change is instantaneous in its nature, and 
leads ultimately and invariably to the same result, 
— the restoration of the perfection of character 
which man has lost, but in which he was origi- 
nally created. It is accomplished by the energy 
of the Most High, and, therefore, its effects are 
sure and durable, but never in their fullest extent 
completed, while the subjects of renovation con- 
tinue upon earth. It is termed in the sacred writ- 
ings, a passing from death unto life,* a new birth, t 
a creation.^ The progress in this divine life is 
I 

* John v. 24. t John iii. 3-6. Gal. iv. 29. 

t Eph. ii. 10 ; iv. 24. 2 Cor. v. 17. 



130 THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS*. 

sometimes very gradual, or may be, of more rapid 
growth, but it is generally not only real, but visi- 
ble in believers. " They go from strength t<s> 
strength," and often their " faith groweth exceed- 
ingly," and " the Holy Ghost is shed on them abun- 
dantly." 

" There is a proof that, to restore the image of 
God in all those whose hearts are changed by his 
grace, is the ultimate design of the Almighty, in 
the value which thenceforward they entertain for 
holiness. No sooner is the soul born again from 
above, and translated into the kingdom of God's 
dear Son, than hatred of sin, and longing desires 
after perfect purity, are implanted. At first, in- 
deed, when newly awakened to a sense of danger,, 
and made alive to the powers of the world to come, 
anxiety to embrace the hope set before them in the 
Gospel, and joy proportionate to the degree in 
which the wondrous scheme of redemption is un- 
folded and received, may so absorb the mind of 
Christians, that their thoughts may, for the period,, 
be little engaged in contemplating the beauty of 
the Divine character. But seed is sown which 
germinates in time ; and the essence of true reli- 
gion was, and will ever be, an assimilation to God 
in the love of holiness. Instances there are,, 
where, from the first dawn of spiritual life, this 
love has been so much the ruling passion of the 
soul, that the perception of it has been even 



THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 131 

stronger than the desire of personal safety ; and,, 
where redemption itself has not drawn forth livelier 
feelings of admiration, than the glorious perfections 
of the immaculate Jehovah ! When, however, in 
the young convert, it is not so prominently devel- 
oped, it will always be found to exist, and will grow 
and gather strength unceasingly. How inexpressi- 
bly glorious, how transcendently captivating to the 
renewed mind, is but the distant sight of ineffable 
perfection ! It is but a glance, that, while in this 
world, we are capable of receiving of the glory 
that is God's ; but that glance enchants. Is there 
any thing in heaven or on earth to be compared 
with the view the Scriptures unfold of the clus- 
tered excellencies of the Eternal ? And how is the 
value of these excellencies heightened by the bright 
radiance of infinity which is attached to each ! An 
infinitude of perfection dazzles while it charms, 
and transforms, while it satisfies. When the soul 
in which grace abides can catch a glimpse of beauty 
so complete, its boundlessness entrances ; and lesser 
love is lost in admiration and praise of that which 
only is lovely. The beams from this effulgence 
which reach our world are resplendent, and cast a 
gleam on the dark abode of sin and misery. Seen 
through a glass darkly, they are brighter than the 
sun, and they blind the mind's eye to all other 
good. 

But, " who can by searching find out God ? 



132 the christian's love of holiness. 

Who can find out the Almighty to perfection?" 
Who can discover intrinsically the attributes of 
God ? Who can understand what they are in their 
amplitude as found in God ? — What is love ? — love 
as a fountain, — love in its fulness, — unlimited love ? 
What to be love ? — to have the being compounded 
of love ? — to love inherently — perfectly ? The 
meaning is hid from us. Man cannot see it — man 
cannot feel it — what can we know ? What is 
light? — light without shade — light from which dark- 
ness vanisheth — essential light — His marvellous 
light ? This light no man can approach unto ; no 
man hath seen, or can see it.* To think we con- 
ceive of it, is to put darkness for light. What is 
holiness ? — holiness in its essence — unmingled, un- 
contaminated holiness — the holiness of Him " that 
is holy"t — " who only art holy V'% What is that 
darling attribute by which Jehovah swears,^ — that 
through which his glory especially shines ?[| Can 
he that is born of a woman, the unclean, the pol- 
luted, the iniquitous, know ? Can sinners compre- 
hend the immaculate holiness of God ? What can 
they know ? What is life ? the Life — that First 
Cause which animates what ever lives — from 
whom life in its infinite variety is derived and up- 
held in millions of spirits, — in mortals, — in the 



* 1 Tim. vi. 16. t Rev. iii. 7. t Rev. xv. 4, 
§ Amos iv. 2. 1) Exod. xv. 11. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 133 

almost endless diversity of creatures, even which 
inhabit earth, from the highest grade — man, to the 
reptile, and the animalculae ; and which, doubtless, 
extends throughout interminable space, where count- 
less worlds are, in all probability, peopled with life ? 
What is this principle ? Can we comprehend it ? 
It is origination, immensity, diffusiveness, and it is 
incomprehensible to man ! What is an eternal ex- 
istence ? Can we grasp the idea ; is there a con- 
ception of it within us ? Can we number eternal 
ages ? Can we travel back in thought, searching 
for a beginning, and think we perceive duration 
without limits ? Or, shall we look forward to being 
without end, and think we see its boundlessness ? 
If we can do this, then may we conceive of one 
attribute of Him who has named himself, I Am. 
This is a self-existing property of which we know 
nothing. All other things hang upon God. He 
stands alone ; the Beginning without beginning, 
and the Ending without end. The being of God 
is absolutely necessary, essential ; were it not for 
this incomprehensible Being, every thing would 
fall to nought. 

But, as has been observed, it is infinity that 
makes the attributes of God beyond the conception 
of the creature. A faint semblance of some of 
them we know ; but it is not the full, the entire 
reality, as inherent in Jehovah, with which we are 
acquainted. It is something resembling very im- 

12 



134 the christian's love of holiness. 

perfectly that which is God's, but not the thing it- 
self. If we think we can behold the excellencies 
of God, it is not God's excellencies that we behold- 
As nearly, however, as our finite minds are capable 
of realizing perfection so immense, to the soul 
in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, the sight is capti- 
vating. Where is there joy, to the renewed in 
heart, equal to the ineffable sweetness rising from 
the consideration of what God is ? What do his 
people desire God to be that he is not ? And to 
have every wish gratified in the character of him 
who reigns supreme, and who has declared he will 
be ours beyond the possibility of change, is bles- 
sedness. Transporting thought ! God is good, — a 
thought which only can be enchanced in value, by 
the reflection that we shall be like him. Desires 
he hath given, which he alone can satisfy ; and one 
faculty that is bestowed on those in whom grace 
lives, is the power to apprehend the beauty of 
holiness. To this the inmost affections of the 
Christian are drawn. In comparison with this, 
nothing delights, nothing charms. To be a parta- 
ker of GocPs holiness would, and will, make the 
believer's heaven. Blessedness and holiness are 
as inseparably connected in his eyes, as they are 
in truth. His " senses are exercised to discern good 
and evil." He knows no satisfying portion but the 
perfection that is found in God, and the measure 
of it that is bestowed by God on man. He feels 



THE CHRISTIAN S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 135 

that joy which endures, hath purity for its essence, 
and God for its author. Enjoyment, where the 
love of holiness is the source, hath no satiety ; for 
the higher the attainment, the more intense is the 
longing after fuller communication. The soul that 
but tastes the chief good, feels that there is no 
other worth the coveting; and the often er that the 
attempt has been made to derive satisfaction from 
the world and the creature, the more thorough is 
the conviction in the renewed mind, that from these 
it cannot flow. Such sources of support fail us 
when we resort to them. The joys of earth are 
empty and delusive, short-lived and unsatisfying. 
If we covet any thing, we must seek it where in 
reality it is found. No man seeks for gold in the 
ocean, or for pearls in the mines of Peru. And if 
we seek joy, we must derive it from Him in whom 
it dwells, in whom is its fountain. The perfec- 
tions of God constitute his bliss ; therefore, holi- 
ness is the very ground-work of happiness ; and 
the nearer blessed spirits resemble God in holiness, 
the nearer they must resemble him in joyfulness. 
Joy is inherent in God, so it necessarily follows, 
that it can never exist in continuing, but by assim- 
ilation to him. If God is perfect, and God is hap- 
py, it cannot be otherwise than that happiness flows 
from perfection. To derive happiness from God, 
independently of assimilation to his other attribu- 
tes, is impossible. It would be to sever what 



136 the christian's love of holiness. 

cannot be disjoined, — blessedness from the char- 
acter of Jehovah, or happiness from what produces 
it. It would be to affirm, that innate joy dwells 
not in the Supreme ; for, from his attributes, from 
what he is in himself, the joy of God must arise. 
And if, in the heart of the Christian, the desire of 
holiness, and, in the smallest degree, the likeness 
of God are implanted, that is given which leads of 
itself to happiness. Holiness conduces as much 
to happiness, as life does to motion ; whatever 
lives moves, and where there is true holiness, there 
is true happiness. The least approach to holiness 
is an approach to happiness, and fulness of holiness 
is fullness of happiness. " Thou hast loved righ- 
teousness, and hated iniquity, therefore, God, even 
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness 
above thy fellows." 

Now that the people of God are destined to pos- 
sess this fulness of happiness, isincontestibly proved 
by the love they bear to holiness. The delight 
which, is given them in immaculate purity, is the 
strongest possible evidence, that the design of the 
Almighty is to make them perfectly pure. They 
have received a new nature, the principle feature 
of which is, a desire that is not to be controlled, — 
the desire of holiness. If this desire is never to 
be gratified, it is a solitary instance in Providence, 
and contrary to the whole divine procedure. Our 
globe teems with life, and we find that all the crea- 



isr 



THE CHRISTIAN S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 



tures which inhabit it, obtain what they require, 
and naturally seek ; that what they covet they are 
placed in circumstances to possess. Do we require 
breath ? — the air supplies it. Are food, and drink, 
and warmth necessary ? — the animals and the ele- 
ments furnish them. Man, and all that lives, in a 
countless variety of species, have their wants pro- 
vided for ; and every craving of nature has a suita- 
ble provision ready for its relief. The world is 
clothed with verdure for the many creatures who 
feed upon it. The bee seeks honey, and the flow- 
ers provide it. The inhabitants of the waters find 
life in them ; while other classes, to whom they 
are death, and who naturally dread them, occupy 
the dry land. Thus, all are supplied with that 
which they by nature desire ; what they seek they 
find. 

And shall the desire of holiness be the first de- 
viation from what appears to be the general rule 
in Providence ? Shall this desire, which we have 
not originally, but which is implanted by the Spirit 
of God, be given us, without the inte .ition that it 
shall be satisfied ? — thus making a meetness for 
heaven productive of hell ; for an earnest longing 
after that which is unattainable, may be compared 
to the worm that never dies. Sorrow, and sighing, 
and eternal torment must ensue, were a wish so 
strong constantly ungratified. Desire, without the 
possibility of gratification, is of hellish growth ; 

12* 



138 the christian's love of holiness. 

through mercy, (as has been observed,) it is not 
the product of earth, nor is it known in heaven. 
But, in the world of wo, what wish can be grati- 
fied ? — for the miserable inhabitants eagerly pursue 
after that which God hates. And here another 
argument opens, to prove that the desire of holi- 
ness shall be abundantly satisfied, — it is that in 
which God most especially delights. Its brightest 
effulgence is peculiar to the Deity. It is " He 
that is holy in all his works ;"*•" there is none holy 
as the Lord ;"t from Him holiness emanates. 
Now, the Christian who finds his joy in holiness, 
is of one mind w T ith the Eternal. His heart is set 
upon the same object in which Jehovah glories. 
He acts, or would act, in concert with God. What 
is pleasing to God is pleasing to him. His eyes 
are opened to behold incomparable beauty, where, 
in truth, it exists — in the character of God. He 
sees the Supreme Good glorious in holiness, and 
he desires to resemble, in as far as it is possible, 
excellency thus divine. Therefore, God and the 
creature are at one, — are agreed. There is no 
longer schism, opposition, variance ; but harmony, 
concord, union. And if united in purpose and in 
love to the Omnipotent, what shall impede the be- 
liever's assimilation to him ? where is the obstacle ? 
what the hindrance ? Man's renovation is impeded 

*' Psalms cxlv. 17. 1 1 Samuel ii. 2. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 139 

by his will being adverse to God's ; but here the 
will and the affections are gained, are in unison 
with the attributes of the Most High ; and where, 
then, is the impediment to his obtaining that which 
God wills, equally with himself. God necessarily 
promotes that in which he delights, and he will 
fulfil the desires he hath implanted. 

" When men cast seed into the ground, and 
sleep and rise night and day, the seed springeth 
and groweth up they know not how ; first the 
blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in ear." 
And thus it is in the kingdom of God ; that which 
is sown germinates. As "the earth bringeth forth 
fruit of itself," so this good seed springeth up unto 
everlasting life. He that soweth, " blesseth the 
springing thereof." What should blight it? — Satan 
and his emissaries are alone inimical to its growth, 
and they have not the power. They may sow 
tares among the wheat, but the wheat shall grow 
until the harvest ; for therefore was the seed de- 
posited. 

We see that ripeness or full stature is not at- 
tained in animal or vegetable life at once, or when 
first brought into being. It is the manner of Pro- 
vidence that maturity should succeed to infancy. 
Immense is the difference between the sapling and 
the majestic oak ; and great is the dissimilarity 
between the infant and the man of genius and of 
letters. The body grows, and the soul increases 



140 THE CHRISTIANAS LOVE OF HOLINESS. 

in understanding and in wisdom ; and there is pro- 
gression generally in our world. And shall the 
seed of grace wither and die, because the Almighty 
wills not to bless it ? It springs not from earth, it 
is not the product of the soil. It comes from God, 
and leads to God. We may reverently say it is 
the most congenial to God of all that is beneath 
the sun ; " for it is the divine nature implanted in 
man."* 

And shall this that is the most noble, the most 
eminent of his works, with which we are acquaint- 
ed, — this emanation from the Deity, — this in which 
he takes more especial delight, — the growth of 
holiness in the human soul, be abandoned by him ? 
Shall this seed perish, when God giveth a body to 
all grain, it may chance of wheat or some other ? 
It is an impossibility. The desire of holiness in 
the heart of man will terminate in its fall fruition ; 
it is God's work, and who shall let it ? To him 
who seeks it, shall be given plenitude of holiness; 
and consequent on plenitude of holiness, is pleni- 
tude of joyfulness. 

And now, we are naturally led to inquire, do we 
know any thing of happiness in connection with 
holiness ? Are holiness and happiness assimilated 
in our minds ? Does holiness appear to us pro- 
ductive of happiness ? Can we conceive of hap- 

* 2 Peter i. 4. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S LOVE OF HOLINESS. 141 

piness separately from holiness, or does sin seem 
to us the plant on which enjoyment grows ? Were 
we perfectly holy, do we feel that we should be 
perfectly happy ? Thus it is with those in whom 
even the first fruits of holiness are found. The 
mist of worldly error which blinds the multitude, 
is from their eyes dispelled. They can appreciate 
the beauty of holiness ; they can conceive that 
peace and joy flow from purity ; they can feel that 
in holiness joy inherently dwells. 

But again, how are we affected towards holiness 
in its infinitude, as it is found in God ? Are we 
charmed with the lustre of Jehovah's glorious at- 
tributes ? While, like the light of the sun, their 
radiance dazzles, so that we are unable to gaze on 
their brightness, which it is not in mortals to com- 
prehend, do we delight to catch a glance of their 
unutterable loveliness, and is it to us a sight the 
most captivating that heaven itself can discover ? 
Thus, too, it is with those in whom the Spirit 
dwells. God is their all; when unable to view 
him through the intercepting clouds of ignorance 
or sin, they mourn ; for, in adoration their most 
precious moments are spent ; when, by a realizing 
apprehension, the glories of the Divinity are faint- 
ly discoverable, they rejoice ; for but a ray of light 
dispels gloom ; and when faith pierces within the 
veil, and the attributes of God are more plainly 
discerned, they triumph ; for joy rises in propor- 



142 the christian's love of holiness. 

tion to the sight they obtain of his ineffable perfec- 
tions. " The children of Zion are joyful in their 
King." 

It is sweet to know that perfection exists ; that 
there is such a thing as spotless purity ; that one 
Being is essentially, eternally holy. It is sweeter 
to know that this Being reigns ; that he is Su- 
preme ; that he is God over all ; that all things are 
under his control, are under his feet. But it is 
sweetest to think that this God, this high, this holy 
God, will be our God ; that we are united to him 
in indissoluble bonds for ever ; — this is the climax 
of the Christian's joy. When he can realize this, 
it is joy unspeakable'; to the w T orld, incomprehen- 
sible ! This is the joy of heaven, for there "we 
shall see him as he is." And there no cloud can 
intercept the sight of him who reigns immaculately 
holy. There the Christian's relationship to God 
shall be evident; it shall be seen, it shall be felt, 
that God and his saints are united. " That they 
may be one with us,"* was the great design the 
Redeemer had in view, when he gave himself a 
sacrifice for sin. On earth this union is accom- 
plished, but in heaven it is apparent ; and it shall 
be productive of unutterable blessedness to them 
who have learned to prize God's holiness. 

That they may resemble God, and delight in 

* John xvii. 21. 



. THE CHRISTIANS LOVE OF HOLINESS. 143 

God, is the design of the Almighty, when sinners 
are regenerated by his grace. This is regenera- 
tion, the effect produced by the in-dwelling of the 
Spirit, — an effect at once ennobling and enraptur- 
ing. What so noble as to bear a resemblance, 
however faint, to the perfection of the .Highest ? 
What so rapturous as to partake of that which 
constitutes God's happiness ? 

From these observations, we may gather how 
inconceivable is the bliss of heaven ! How little 
do we know of the joy that arises from nearness 
to, and intercourse with, God ? How unable are 
we to realize the feeling of complete exemption 
from the bondage of corruption ! or the delight 
which perfect purity imparts ! These are among 
the things which " eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of 
man to conceive." But again, we ask, have we 
any conception that these blessings are desirable ? 
Does it appear to us that joy can accompany them, 
and that without them there is no true joy ? Feel- 
ings such as these are forerunners of interminable 
blessedness. There must be a preparation of the 
heart ere blessedness can find admission. In our 
natural state, we are disqualified to receive it ; we 
are incapacitated to experience joy. In the world's 
joy is sorrow, is misery, is death ; and therefore, 
it deserves not the name. The ability to taste 



144 the christian's love of holiness. 

true joy is bestowed by God on his people, and 
certainly and invariably terminates in its fulness. 
And where holiness charms, joy in its fulness may, 
and shall be tasted. 






CHAPTER IX. 

THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 



Chief distinction between the worldly and religious — The soul must be formed 
for happiness ere it can receive it— Joy in God alone satisfying — Men 
of the world incapacitated to taste joy— This incapacity tends to, and is a 
capacity for, misery— Consolatory thought to believers — Capacity for joy 
may be given where, for a time, little joy is experienced — This state seldom 
of long continuance — Christians should exert their capacity to taste joy — 
Affecting state of those who are destitute of it — It should be sought — Es- 
sential of true joy. 



" Should fate command me to the farthest verge 
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes, 
Rivers unknown to song ; 'tis nought to me ; 
Since God is ever present, ever felt, 
In the void waste as in the city full ; 
And where He vital breathes there must be joy." 

Having considered the Christian as in a state of 
warfare with evil propensities, and as born from 
above to delight in holiness, it becomes apparent, 
that the distinction between the people of the world 
and the children of God's kingdom, is no slight, 
superficial, outward semblance ; no observance of 
rites or ceremonies ; nothing that is trivial or unim- 
portant. It is not even the conduct that forms the 
chief difference between these classes ; it is the 

13 



146 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

peculiar properties of the heart that distinguishes 
them, whence the tenor of the life naturally flows. 
All men act according to the feelings that influence 
them. We do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs 
of thistles ; wherefore, by their fruits we know them. 
But as the heart alone forms the character, a change 
in any man, to be radical and durable, must be 
there ; and it is thence that every effect in the life 
emanates. 

The removal of that distance and estrangement 
from God, or, it may more properly be termed, 
aversion to him, which in the unrenewed is univer- 
sal, combined with union of soul, and assimilation 
to the Deity, is the very essence of that change 
which the spirit of God effects. And one of its chief 
peculiarities is a capacity to taste joy. 

It is not sufficiently considered that the soul must 
be formed for happiness, before happiness can be 
bestowed upon the soul. Place a man in a situa- 
tion of much enjoyment to others, if he has no de- 
light in what affords it to them, he will experience 
none. Therefore, the capacity to receive joy is an 
essential preliminary to its existence. There are 
many things that afford enjoyment to man in his 
fallen state, and from which he can derive it, which, 
nevertheless, yield no true joy. To induce joy 
there must be the idea, false or true, that good is 
attained, or likely to be so. If that which promises, 
or may for the time yield enjoyment, is not true 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 147 

good, the joy will inevitably cease, and therefore 
does not deserve the name. Joy, to be full, must 
be stable, must be satisfying, must be without end ; 
and of this joy there is but one origin ; there is 
one spring only of unspeakable blessedness — joy 
in God ; not in his gifts, but in Himself. " i" am 
thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" is the 
language of Jehovah to his believing people. Joy, 
in its infinitude, is founded on the possession of what 
is felt to be the highest good. That boundlessness 
of perfection dwells in God none will deny. Where 
else shall we find it if not in its origin, in the great 
First Cause of all that is good in the creation ! 
Here, there is a beauty, that even to contemplate 
shall be joyful. And when this source of all ex- 
cellencies is united to us in the closest ties of af- 
finity and of affection, so that we are said to be one 
with him, partaking of his love, and of his glory,* 
joy is the unfailing result, according to the mea- 
sure in which we can realize a portion so inexpres- 
sibly precious. Thus, that which gives true joy, 
must, in its nature, be calculated to bless. 

There is no affection that imparts transport to 
the soul so amply as love, when it is fully warrant- 
ed by the qualities of the object beloved, and when 
it is largely returned. If, then, our love is fixed 
upon God, according to the degree in which we are 

* John. xvii. 22 23. 



148 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

enabled to see, by faith, our interest in him, and 
that, wonderful as it may appear, his love is be- 
stowed upon us, must joy arise. And infinite joy 
can only proceed from the knowledge that a Being 
of infinite excellence, and unbounded perfection, is 
ours, to bless, to ennoble, to enrich, to purify, eter- 
nally ! 

There is but one species of joy, then, thus dur- 
able, thus giving rest to the soul ; and if we have 
no capacity to receive it, we cannot know what 
happiness is. If joy is unconnected with this 
highest good, it is fallacious ; it is not true joy ; it 
is from a failing source, which never can gratify in 
perpetuity. 

And thus it is with men of the world. Their 
conceptions of what affords joy are diversified ac- 
cording to their various tastes, properties, and 
situations in life ; but they have no pleasure in that 
which constitutes the joy of heaven, and no con- 
ception that the fountain of joy is in God, or that 
holiness charms. The blind are not more inca- 
pacitated to see, or the deaf to hear, than the 
world's votaries are to experience unspeakable 
blessedness. It is that for which they are without 
a sense ; they are destitute of all that awakens it ; 
they are filled with what is inimical to it ; they 
are without the perception that it can exist. 

Tell a man born blind how lovely is the blush 
of the rose, the tints of the carnation, or the 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 149 

colours of the rainbow, and he is no wiser ; he has 
no conception what is meant ; he is without the 
faculty to comprehend what he is told. Or, strive 
to enforce upon a man who was born deaf, that 
sounds enchant, that music charms, and that har- 
mony delights, he may be made to understand that 
you have a sense from which he is shut out, but 
he is not informed in what that sense consists ; all 
he knows is, that you feel differently, and that he 
is unable to experience pleasure from that which 
imparts it to others. 

And endeavour to instruct the worldly in the na- 
ture of heaven's joy, like the blind and the deaf, 
they have no ability to comprehend it. With dif- 
ficulty they are persuaded that any human being 
can experience joy in God alone ; yet, should the 
testimony of the godly convince them that the 
genuine disciples of Christ are joyous in propor- 
tion as they approach the source of true joy, they 
are free to confess that it is not so with them ; that 
they are destitute of the faculty to receive this joy ; 
that they are without the sense which feels it. 

Now, this destitution of capacity to feel happi- 
ness in its fullest measure, of itself leads to misery. 
Where light cannot enter, there is darkness ; where 
the harmony of sound is shut out, there is the still- 
ness of death. Happiness and misery jare opposed 
to each other ; if the one gains entrance, the other 
retreats ; if joy be present, grief is absent. And 

13* 



150 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

as perfect love casteth out fear, so perfect joy 
casteth out sorrow. In their plenitude they cannot 
exist together ; wherefore, the absence of joys tends 
to wretchedness, 

But not only so, where there is no capacity to 
admit joy, there is a capacity for misery. If there 
is no desire after communion with God, there is a 
desire to depart from him ; and in a departure from 
God consists misery. Joy, as a radiance, encircles 
the Deity ; the nearer to its centre the fuller is the 
perception of joyfulness ; and misery is propor- 
tionally increased as we recede from it. Where- 
fore, to quit the confines of joy is to enter the 
bounds of misery ; and if the desire of distance 
from true joy be present, so will those desires 
which tend to wretchedness. It has been noticed, 
that the pleasures of the world, from repetition, 
cloy, and pall upon the vitiated taste that seeks 
them still, because it knows no higher. Yet, on 
the supposition that they were capable of affording 
gratification during life, this counterfeit of real en- 
joyment must end with it, when an endless dura- 
tion of misery is the inevitable result. Thus, con- 
nected with the incapacity to receive joy, is the 
capacity to endure misery. 

An equal susceptibility of joy and sorrow cannot 
be balanced in the same breast ; a tendency to one 
will preponderate ; and where the preponderance 
lies, the effect will be to counteract the other ; and 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 151 

finally, as a necessary consequence, to exterminate 
it altogether. As fire and water extinguish each 
other, so do joy and sorrow ; they each root out 
the counteracting principle ; as the one advances, 
the other departs. 

And here a thought naturally arises, which can- 
not fail of being consolatory to the genuine believer 
in Christ. If the worldly are disqualified to admit 
joy, so are the children of God to entertain sor- 
row ; it spontaneously flies from them. Their 
hearts are destined to be filled with joy, and there 
shall be no room to admit grief. They shall un- 
interruptedly receive joy from its fountain, their 
eternal portion, Jehovah Himself; and associated 
with its fulness, sorrow cannot live ; there is no 
space left by which it may enter. In this earth, 
it is true, there are sources of disquietude that mar 
the Christian's joy; but the reason is plain, his 
highest good has not fully taken possession of the 
soul ; therefore, there is still place for grief. And 
so with the worldly ; they have, at times, while 
here, what they deem pleasure ; for the misery to 
which they tend is not full, and their gratifications, 
such as they may be, also find scope. But as the 
Christian is susceptible of, and shall possess, the 
truest and purest joy, so the worldly are suscepti- 
ble of, and shall inherit, the deepest sorrow. When 
joy or misery gains full admission into the heart, 
they each cast out the opposing principle for ever. 



152 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

It may, however, be necessary to remark, that 
the capacity of which we treat is frequently given, 
where, nevertheless, little joyfulness is for a time 
experienced. Many reasons may be assigned why 
it is so ; and one seems evident, it is the joy of 
heaven that believers are capacitated to entertain ; 
and therefore it is not to be expected that they shall 
fully possess it while upon earth. The excess of 
heaven's joy is peculiar to heaven, as it arises from 
union with, and nearness to, God, which there is 
uninterrupted and apparent ; whereas, in this land 
of exile, faith in their relationship to God, and in 
their interest in his love, is chiefly that which glad- 
dens the hearts of his children. 

The weakness of faith, then, is another reason 
why believers do not at all times rejoice. The 
disciples of Jesus who in this world possess most 
joy, are those in whom faith most abounds ; and 
in proportion to the cordiality with which the re- 
cord of God concerning a full and a free salvation, 
through Immanuel's costly sacrifice, is received, 
will be the measure of the Christian's joy. If a 
doubt arises of his interest in this salvation, joy 
must abate ; if he can fearlessly exclaim, " my be- 
loved is mine, and I am his," joy will with equal 
certainty be his portion. " It is believing that he 
rejoices with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 

But there are periods when the conceptions the 
believer may entertain of the beauty and excellency 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 153 

of his King are more than usually faint, and at 
such times he will be less joyful. Darkness, while 
on earth, rests upon the minds even of the favoured 
few who are capable of delight in God ; they are 
fitted for, and shall enjoy, the beatific vision, but it 
is not present with them. At some seasons this 
darkness is more dense, the horizon is obscured, 
the sun is not even seen behind a cloud, he is alto- 
gether eclipsed, and joy is lessened. The capa- 
city to entertain it, is unimpaired ; but the object 
that excites it, the perfections of the divine charac- 
ter, is with diminished clearness beheld. Still, be- 
lievers are equally capable of receiving even its 
fulness, but that which induces it, the beauties of 
their King, is not to their mind's eye present. A 
single glance would awaken it, and in proportion 
to the view obtained would be the delight expe- 
rienced ; but, for a period they may have little 
realizing conception of that whence their joy arises. 
At such seasons, however, comfort is afforded 
by the belief the Christian entertains that the at- 
tributes of his King are unspeakably glorious, and 
cannot shine brighter ! With this he rests satisfied, 
waiting for those joyous communications of the 
Spirit, which, bringing life with them, manifest 
God to the soul. And, " Oh ! that I knew where 
I might find Him," is the language of that heart 
which seeks its joy in a God that hideth himself. 
" He that loveth me, said Jesus, shall be loved of 



154 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest 
myself to him," and this manifestation creates the 
Christian's joy. 

It is not, however, generally, for any lengthened 
period, that those who are thus empowered to taste 
true joy walk in darkness, and see no light. The 
new nature in Christ is formed to have its senses 
exercised. That quality which can taste joy is 
not given to lie dormant ; it is bestowed to bless 
the recipient of it ; and, like the desire of holiness, 
is an effect produced by the Spirit of God, with 
the intention that the faculty should be gratified 
and employed. God is not so prodigal of his 
workmanship as to give any sense to man that is 
useless to him. All our senses are unfailingly pro- 
ductive of benefit to us, and answer the end de- 
signed. And where the capacity to joy in God is 
found, the end in view, undoubtedly is, that we 
may rejoice in Him. This is the merciful inten- 
tion of Jehovah ; and while He lives and reigns, 
the joy of those who derive their happiness from 
himself is secure. It may be interrupted for a 
time, but the sense being given is a pledge that it 
shall be exercised. 

On earth, indeed, there is no fulness of joy, even 
in those who are the best qualified to receive it. 
The joy of the Christian is greater than other men 
know ; but it is not uninterrupted, nor does capa- 
city alone limit it. Joy like this is peculiar to 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 155 

heaven ; there all shall experience whatever bliss 
their natures are capable of receiving ; there shall 
be no limitation but the capacity to contain more ; 
the joy of all shall be full. In that land of light 
and blessedness, God is clearly manifested. The 
glory and honour of his perfections are seen in a 
manner that to us, while here, is incomprehensible. 
How infinitely His greatness and His beauty excel 
those of all created intelligences becomes appa- 
rent ! And to those who have learned to place 
their joy in what He is, delight is consequent on 
the clearer discovery of it. The image of God is 
reflected in those who thus behold Him : purity 
and felicity are the result of this vision of their 
essence, and the homage of the heart seeks its 
gratification in unceasing worship and service. 

But, Christian, if the capacity to joy in God is 
given that it may be exercised, is it your endea- 
vour to exert it? There is no prodigal waste of 
divine bounty ; every sense is bestowed with the 
design that it should be used. Privileged to par- 
take of heaven's bliss, feeling an inexpressible 
void when God is absent, which nothing else can 
supply, be yet more anxiously desirous to drink 
deeper of this fountain of blessedness. Seek with 
increased fervency the Spirit's influence that de- 
lightfully manifests God to the soul, and let no 
created good, even for a time, divert your thoughts 
from Him in whom your joy is found. 



156 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

There are reasons, we have seen, that may oc- 
casion to the believer an abatement of joy ; such 
as darkness and weakness of faith, or from divine 
grace being less amply communicated ; but the 
same effect may proceed from the misimprovement 
of that grace which has been imparted. It is pos- 
sible that those who are capacitated to taste true 
blessedness may neglect the gift that is in them, 
and fail in the unceasing endeavour to draw living 
water out of the wells of salvation. If the thoughts 
are suffered, in a season of temptation, to be ab- 
sorbed in earthly things, our highest joy may still 
be in God, bat it will not be felt to be so. The 
sense may remain unimpaired, but it will be unem- 
ployed and unimproved. Joy can spring from 
nothing unless we contemplate it; no sense can 
gratify unless we use it. The loveliest object can- 
not charm if the eyes be shut, nor can melody en- 
chant if we stop our ears, nor can God himself 
delight if not in all our thoughts. 

Wherefore, Christian ! to whom is given the 
sense to taste joy, use it. Behold by faith the glo- 
ries of that Divine Being, the plenitude of whose 
perfections, combined with his relationship to you, 
form your bliss. Take the spiritual light which 
He has bestowed upon you, and by the aid of his 
grace seek, as for hid treasure, after the knowledge 
of the Highest. Be not contented with a superfi- 
cial glance, but let the thickly clustered excellencies 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 157 

of Jehovah be your search, for to know Him is 
life eternal. See the sufficiency that there is in 
God for the creature's life and happiness. Con- 
template the divine character, till joy be full. Let 
His word direct the inquiry. Ponder well what is 
written of each of his attributes, till something of 
the meaning of their weight and amplitude be con- 
ceived. You have the ability to rejoice in them; 
exert it. See their brightness rendered visible to 
human eyes in the man Christ Jesus. Behold all 
the perfections of the Deity in the garb of human 
flesh, and say if the contemplation be not sweet : 
if it be not joyful to muse on the power and the 
love, the truth and the justice, the wisdom and the 
goodness of Him, who was an infant of days, and 
the mighty God ; the everlasting Father, and our 
elder Brother. 

Let no causes, therefore, of darkness and dis- 
tress disquiet you ; with Christ you are rich for 
eternity ! And if through manifold temptations 
you may have been in heaviness, let your tears 
cease, for God lives. And while God is, and you 
can delight yourself in Him, your happiness is se- 
cure. It is His will that you should derive it from 
his fulness, otherwise he would not have enabled 
you to do so. This sense is a gift ; all men have 
it not. (t I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her 
people a joy." The ills of time shall swiftly 

14 



158 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

vanish, but God is. " I am is his memorial unto 
all generations." 

The consideration of this interesting subject, the 
believer's joy in God, induces the conviction that 
those in whose hearts this joy has no place, are in 
a state truly pitiable. Oh ! that their own minds 
were duly affected by their melancholy condition ! 
Misery is the portion they have chosen ; towards 
its fulness they advance by rapid strides, leaving 
joy behind them, as that which they desire not, 
and from which they farther and farther recede. 
The barrier to their tasting it is not that it is with- 
held from them, but that they are incapacitated to 
partake of it, resembling the instances alluded to, 
where the eye or the ear being defective, infallibly 
excludes sight and hearing. Our Lord himself 
says of such persons, that they cannot see the 
kingdom of God.* They are disqualified, they are 
unfitted to enjoy the heavenly felicity. And where 
joy is thus shut out, sorrow shall pour in as a 
flood against the incursions of which ihere is no 
defence, and where the ground unoccupied shall 
leave abundant room for its entrance. 

If there are any who feel the truth of these state- 
ments, who know their incapacity to taste the joy 
of heaven, who see the misery to which they are 
consequently exposed, and who are ready with 

* John iii. 3. 



THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 159 

earnestness to inquire, " what then shall we do to 
recover from a condition thus hopeless ?" we w r ould 
refer them to the subject of the preceeding chapt 
ter. To such inquirers it is no matter of doub- 
whether the regenerating influences of the Holy- 
Spirit be necessary. They are fully aware that, 
unless they are born again, in the emphatic lan- 
guage of Scripture, they perish. It is the Spirit 
of God alone that gives the capacity to partake of 
heavenly blessedness. All mankind are by nature 
dead to joy in God, and all who are susceptible of 
delight in the contemplation of what God is, and 
in communion with Him, receive the faculty thus 
to rejoice, by the gift of the Holy Ghost. And 
the capacity to taste fulness of joy, and the bless- 
edness which as surely results from this capacity, 
as the sensations results from the structure of the 
body, depend entirely on the influences of the 
Spirit. 

It is therefore evident that if this faculty be a 
gift, we must seek it from Him whose it is to be- 
stow. Inexpressibly valuable as are those com- 
munications, without.which joy in its greatest ex- 
tent cannot find access to the heart of man, they 
are unfailingly given where they are sought. " Ask, 
and ye shall receive," is the encouraging assurance 
of truth itself; and God is as able as he is willing, 
" to make all grace abound towards you." 

There is an essential requisite to true blessed- 



160 THE CAPACITY TO TASTE JOY. 

ness, which is frequently not kept in view, that we 
delight in that which has no tendency to cease, but 
will last for ever. All sources of joy shall fail, 
with the exception of joy in God ; this alone en- 
dures. It lives in the soul an unceasing fountain 
of bliss throughout endless ages. If we ^iave an 
ability to joy in God, he gave it. If we delight in 
him, it is because he hath delight in us, and wills 
our joy, and therefore no circumstance can rob us 
of it. When the naked soul, dislodged from the 
body, shall find itself bereft of every thing here, 
and without one earthly prop upon which to lean ; 
yea, when the world and all the many tribes which 
animate it shall be burnt up ; when Nature's laws 
shall fail, the sun be darkened, and the moon not 
give her light ; or, should even the universe be ex- 
tinct ; still joy, abundant joy, Christian ! is found 
for you, while God lives. You seek no other por- 
tion, and your portion is immutable, and therefore 
immutable is your joy. Oh ! the stability of that 
bliss which flows from God, and the joy, the unut- 
terable joy, of him in whom is the capacity to taste 
it ! In that soul heaven is begun, and heaven is 
secure forever ! 



CHAPTER X. 

CHRISTIAN GRACES GIVEN TO BE USED. 



All God's works manifestly with design-^Design in the formation of the new 
man in Christ Jesus — Diligently to employ their talents, pressed upon Chris- 
tians — Such as love, trust, abasement, ability to pray, to praise, to endure, 
to labour, to fight— By nature destitute of them all — Gift of Holy Spirit 
unspeakably valuable, and given to be exhibited to the praise of God's 
grace. 



11 The soul on earth is an immortal guest, 
Compell'd to starve at an unreal feast: 
A spark that upwards tends by Nature's force, 
A stream diverted from its parent source, 
A drop dissever'd from the boundless sea, 
A moment parted from eternity ! 
A pilgrim panting for a rest to come, 
An exile anxious for his native home." 

In the last chapter the ideas have been suggested, 
that the soul of man, when born again of the Spirit, 
and renewed by the Holy Ghost, receives a capa- 
city to taste joy, of which, by nature, we are not 
possessed ; and that this capacity is given with the 
design that it may be used. These remarks equal- 
ly apply to all the sensations and affections of the 
soul when created anew in Christ Jesus : they are 
gifts, — they are given to be employed by us 

14* 



162 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

Every thing that God hath wrought is manifestly 
with design. There is no member of the body that 
is not exactly fitted for its intended purpose, and 
does not promote our comfort by its use. Divine 
skill and intention are evident in all God's works ; 
and the structure of the largest and of the minutest 
animal alike mark them. The huge proboscis of 
the elephant is formed that its strength may be ex- 
erted ; and fibres belonging to living creatures, that 
are invisible to our sight, excepting by the aid of 
the microscope, are bestowed for their benefit, 
There is design in all the organs of countless my- 
riads of animalculse. They propel themselves 
by the instruments of motion which are given 
them ; and although provided with organs so small 
as to be imperceptible to man's eye, their limbs, 
and their lungs, and their mouths, are as valuable 
to them as ours are to us. Every component part 
of each individual creature is made to perform some 
function. There is no prodigality of the Divine 
workmanship,— no organ, of any thing that lives, 
which is useless,— nothing is made in vain. 

The vegetable creation is likewise manifestly, 
and in an equal measure, formed with skill and 
with design. Its beauty, its variety, its multipli- 
city, are evidently intended to regale the senses, 
and to minister to the necessities of man, of insect, 
and of beast. One of our senses is charmed by 
the verdure of plants, by their majestic stateliness, 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 163 

and by the brilliancy and loveliness of their hues ; 
and another sense derives satisfaction from a class 
that are equally nutritious and grateful ; while a 
third is delighted by the fragrance which enriches 
not a few of the most delicate of the vegetable 
tribes. Some are medicinal, and for this end are 
formed; and all are intended to perpetuate their 
species, and never fail to do so. Thus God works 
with design, and the accomplishment of that design 
is equally from his operation ; and wherever a 
quality is given by God that tends to any effect, 
there too will the effect be given which that quality 
is designed to produce. 

And the new man in Christ Jesus, equally with 
nil the other works of God, is formed with design. 
Is there not a purpose when the Spirit powerfully 
rests upon the soul, when the faculties are renewed, 
when the affections are transformed, when the slave 
of sin is made to hate it, and the hater of God's 
law to love it ? Such a work as this is surely not 
in vain. The hand of God in it is visible, and it 
is apparent that there is design in an operation thus 
marvellous. It must be so ; and the more won- 
derful the means, we may confidently affirm, the 
greater will be the effect that by them is intended 
to be accomplished. And what is the plan in the 
Divine counsel when the Holy Ghost operates on 
the heart of man ? — The intention of the Almighty 
is, that he may be glorified in his creature ; that 



164 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED* 

men may bear the image of the Eternal ; that ten 
thousand times ten thousand of the descendants of 
Adam may surround the throne of G od for ever ! 
The means by which this end is brought to pass, 
are not fortuitous, they are with design, and they 
accomplish that design. It is God's work which 
is and shall be perfect, nor shall it cease until it be 
completed. 

What we would therefore press upon the consi- 
deration of the disciples of Jesus, from these re- 
flections, is, that the}r diligently employ the talents 
and graces their God hath given them. Are they 
enabled to taste joy ? let them make the most of a 
capacity thus enviable. Or, are the abilities given 
them to love, to trust, to hope, to endure, to be 
abased, to forgive, to pray, to praise, to work, to 
fight, to use the shield of faith, to overcome the 
fiery darts of the wicked one ? — these, and every 
other affection and capacity of the renew r ed soul, 
are gifts, and the intention of the Most High, in 
the bestowal of them, is that they may be used. 

Christian ! you can love — -the world at large can- 
not. The affection which they feel for others cen- 
tres in self. It is not the principle that expands, 
that blesses far as the influence of Him in whom 
it dwells, can reach. It is not that love which is 
an emanation from the Deity, which draws the 
soul in closest bonds towards Himself, and thence 
extends its kindly regards to all mankind. It is 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 165 

not that diffusive principle which "is twice blessed," 
blessing him who feels it, and them for whom it is 
felt. This love is a gift implanted in the heart by 
the Holy Ghost, and it is given that its energies 
may adorn the character, and that, through its me- 
dium, blessings may descend from the Eternal ; 
that it may not lie dormant, but be used. Where- 
fore, believing soul, abound in love ! Love fer- 
vently, love constantly, love eminently. Love 
Him whose essence is Love, and in him love his 
creatures. Love your kindred, love your enemies, 
love saints, love angels, love strangers, love aliens. 
"Be rooted and grounded in love." Let all en- 
mity cease. Let universal charity prevail. Be 
gin the life of heaven, which is everlasting love ! 

Or, believer in Jesus, you feel that you can 
trust ; that there is a Rock upon which you lean ; 
that other dependencies you neither have nor can 
have ; that every prop besides breaks beneath your 
weight ; that this one alone is stable, is sure, and 
you know that you have the ability to lean upon it. 
If you recline to the right or to the left your stay 
is lost ; but fully confiding the entire pressure upon 
the Rock, you remain firm, undaunted, immove- 
able ! You see the many around you lean on 
broken reeds, and one after another fall headlong ; 
or, they try to support their own weight, fearful of 
trusting it to Omnipotence, and they find that stand 
they cannot. And these have no ability to rest on 



166 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

the Rock, while their dependence is placed on 
something else. But, believer, the ability is thine, 
wherefore, use it. Trust the soul naked, impure, 
stained with sin, helpless, on that "Arm which 
hath awoke, put on strength, wounded the dragon, 
and made the depth of the sea a way for the ran- 
somed to pass over." Trust implicitly that in this 
reliance the soul is safe, — that it cannot finally fall 
while it thus leans, — that it shall be purified, en- 
nobled, glorified ! And trust the body, — this poor, 
frail, decaying, dying body, — trust it to Him who 
took part of the same, who was partaker of flesh 
and blood, and who took our infirmities and bare 
our sicknesses. Is the body, then, diseased, in- 
firm, waxing old, nigh to that state where it shall 
be a prey to worms ? trust it to Him, who, although 
worms should destroy it, is the resurrection and 
the life, by whose power it shall arise a glorious 
body, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such 
thing. Believe that it shall bear the image of the 
Lord from heaven ; that this corruptible shall put 
on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on im- 
mortality ; that death shall be swallowed up in vic- 
tory ! Or, Christian, do cares and sorrows press 
as you journey through life, so that the songs of 
Zion are unsung, while your harp hangs upon the 
willows ? Does refuge seem to fail, and all look 
dark around ? " Be not faithless but believing." 
Now is your time to trust. Faith must have that 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 167 

which is unseen upon which to build its reliance. 
It grows and lives upon desertion, trial, and need. 
Then we feel its reality — its power. It is in cir- 
cumstances of distress that the Christian clings the 
closest to his stronghold, and that faith pierces the 
veil, " the evidence of things not seen." You have 
trusted and been delivered, wherefore, trust now. 
Your God hath helped hitherto, and he is " the 
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." You have 
the ability to trust, let fear be banished. All shall 
be well, believe it. Exert the confidence in God 
which he has given you, that in him whatever con- 
cerns you is safe. " Trust in him at all times," 
henceforth, and for ever. 

Or, believer, are you abased ? Can you sensi- 
bly feel humiliation ? Do you see your vileness, 
your sinfulness, your emptiness, your nothingness ? 
Do you " know that in you, that is in your flesh, 
dwelleth no good thing ?" This, too, is a gift, be- 
stowed in various degrees upon the children of 
God, but whatever be its extent, it is given that it 
may be cultivated. Make, therefore, the most of 
this precious knowledge, for it is no false appre- 
hension of unworthiness that you experience, it is 
but the knowledge of the truth, and it is a know- 
ledge of which the mere professor is destitute. 
The discovery is highly to be prized, for it leads a 
lost soul to embrace a free salvation ; it leads them 
who have nothing, to accept of imperishable riches, 



168 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

and to cleave to the sufficiency of Him who hath 
all things. Are you, then, emptied of self-exalting 
thoughts, humbled, laid prostrate, and very low ? 
Seek not to rise, — lie thus abject, — if it be possi- 
ble, lie lower still. Glory in your infirmities, that 
the power of Christ may rest upon you. Rejoice 
in his fulness. Be content with your poverty, that 
the praise of the glory of Christ's grace may be 
more abundant. Strive to grow in deeper con- 
sciousness of your guilt, and to improve the gift 
of a broken and contrite spirit which you have re- 
ceived. 

Or, disciple of Jesus, have you learned to pray ? 
Is the ability given you to lift up your heart to 
God ? Can you commune with God " as a man 
speaketh unto his friend ?" Are your secret 
thoughts laid open, are your sins and your sorrows 
spread before God ? Are your desires confided, 
are your cares intrusted to this Almighty, this un- 
failing Friend ? By nature, you had lost commu- 
nion with God ; have you found it by grace ? You 
had no power when unrenewed to come into his 
presence, you were alienated from him, you could 
not reach his throne. Whence, then, proceed 
these strong cryings and groans that pierce the 
heavens, — whence these heart-felt aspirations that 
enter in within the veil ? They come from God 
and lead to God. They are bestowed upon the 
little flock for whom Christ died. They are not 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 169 

the natural breathings of the heart of unrenewed 
man. 

It is the soul that prayeth, the body profiteth 
nothing. Prayer consisteth not in the bended knee 
or in words, but in the intensity of the desire for 
that for which we pray. And can you, Christian, 
earnestly desire and entreat for the best gifts ? 
This is of the fruit of the Spirit ; this is of the 
water of life, which rises to the height whence it 
sprung. And, having the power to pray, Oh ! use 
it freely. " Pray without ceasing, — pray every 
where, — continue instant in prayer, give yourself 
continually to prayer, praying always with all 
prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Be thank- 
ful that a gift, which is the breath, the nutriment 
of the soul, is imparted to you, and let it not lan- 
guish for want of use. Amidst the ordinary busi- 
ness of life, and when the turmoil, and care, and 
varied and multiplied avocations of the world press, 
still pray. Let not the power to lift up the heart 
in ardent supplication be given you, without the 
constant ascension of the heart being your un- 
wearied and blissful endeavour. There is no lack 
of matter for prayer. In every thing, — -for every 
thing that you can conscientiously desire, pray. 
Dwell, as it were, in the presence of the Eternal. 
Let not prayer be your strange work, confined to 
times and seasons, but let God be your strong 
habitation, whereunto you continually resort. 

15 



170 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

Or, believing soul, you can praise. You have 
learned to adore Him, the infinitude of whose ex- 
cellence exceedeth search. You can see excellency 
in the Supreme. You can view, although afar off, 
and very dimly, beauty in the fountain of all per- 
fection, and your spirit rises in adoration, and your 
lips utter praise. You are compelled to extol, for 
praise is the language of your soul. It is your 
delight to break forth in fervent devotion. But a 
glimpse of what God is constrains you to praise ; — 
you cannot but praise. Can the incomparable ful- 
ness, the clustered glories of infinitude, be appre- 
hended in any measure by the Christian without 
praise ? He who has learned, however inadequate- 
ly, to prize them, is necessitated to adore, is com- 
pelled to magnify. The purer air of the celestial 
regions induces praise ; the believer catches, as it 
were, a zephyr from the element of heaven, and, 
with sympathetic but feeble accents, unites with 
the triumphant chorus of glorified spirits, who cease 
not to shout, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of 
hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory." And, 
although unable to reach the purity and the strength 
of their ecstatic worship, when thus engaged, an 
unity of soul is felt with all the excellence of the 
creation. 

But praises no less fervent burst from your heart, 
when you remember what God hath done for you. 
The redemption of Christ calls forth your praise, 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 171 

for you know that without it you were lost. You 
believe that His sufferings were not only to spare 
yours, but to change unending wailing and woe, 
into eternal hosannahs and joyfulness, and praise is 
your willing tribute for blessings thus unspeakably 
great, thus expensively obtained. When, by the 
Spirit's influence, you are enabled to feel that Christ 
truly suffered; that soul and body were agonized 
to the utmost ; that the wrath of God rested upon 
Him, that it might not rest upon you, to free you 
from Satan's curse and Satan's sway ; thanksgiving 
and praise spontaneously flow ; you cry out " my 
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath re- 
joiced in God my Saviour. He that is mighty 
hath done great things. Thanks be unto God for 
his unspeakable gift." 

Thus, Christian, to praise, the spirit of praise is 
given you ; and with it the power to breathe the 
atmosphere of heaven. Inhale a full draught of 
the salubrious air. Learn the language of that bet- 
ter country to which you are hastening ; strive 
to speak it more unhesitatingly, more fluently. 
Abound in thanksgiving through the power of the 
Holy Ghost. " Offer the sacrifice of praise to God 
continually, that is, the fruit of your lips, giving 
thanks to his name." " Bless the Lord at all times, 
let his praise be continually in your mouth." 

Or, believer in Jesus, is patient endurance given 
you ? Is there some burden that heavily presses, 



172 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

which you carry without murmuring, which you 
bear without repining ? You feel the load, you 
must feel it; stoical insensibility is not derived 
from Christianity. But with the sensation of 
weight, of oppression, is the spirit of entire resig- 
nation, or even of acquiescence, yours? Can you 
say, when suffering greatly, or when suffering at 
all, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ?" 
Is God's will, whatever that be, your will ? There 
is no grace more evidently a spiritual gift than this. 
Not one atom of satisfaction in the will of God, 
when it is distasteful to us, ever proceeded from the 
natural heart of fallen man. Resignation is quite 
opposed to our inclinations and natural feelings. 
It arises only from spiritual life. One will per- 
vades heaven, and that will is God's ; and when 
God's will, be it what it may, is desired on earth, 
the desire is of heavenly origin, and its implanta- 
tion and its growth proceed from divine influence. 
But, possibly, my Christian friend, you may be 
ready to say that you have not this desire, that 
when God inflicts suffering you bear it only because 
you must. You have no feelings of acquiescence, 
of willingness to carry the burden, the utmost you 
can do is to be resigned ; and when you feel the 
pressure you incessantly and importunately cry for 
relief. Thus it may be, for never let it be forgot- 
ten, what is reiterated in this chapter, that all the 
graces of the Spirit are gifts, and gifts are not ne- 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 173 

cessarily ours, they depend on the pleasure of the 
donor. This grace may be only in embryo, and 
scarcely perceptible ; and the trials you deplore 
may be sent to strengthen it. Yet if you think 
you have it not, pray for it. The cry for relief is 
not forbidden ; but let the cry for patient endurance 
accompany it. You may pray for strength to bear 
suffering, or for its removal, but the choice of the 
alternative should not be yours ; you must rest 
satisfied with the Divine will. 

But is the grace patiently to endure given ? Have 
you received it ? Stint not then its exercise ; 
God's glory is concerned in its use. Prove to all 
around you, that a suffering saint has sources of 
consolation of which the world knows not. Let 
tranquillity mark your demeanour ; let a step higher 
still be your aim, even thanksgiving. Have you 
not yet enough to call forth praise, abundant praise ? 
Are not all things that shall conduce to your real 
interest bestowed upon you while the redemption 
of Christ is yours, and the spirit of holiness is 
yours, and the heavenly inheritance yours ? Oh ! 
then, be patient under momentary suffering. The 
overwhelming and eternal good, which shall swal- 
low up the short-lived and temporary evil, ap- 
proaches. It may seem to advance slowly, but, 
nevertheless, it comes surely, and the weight of 
earth's sorrows shall be forgotten in the weight of 
heaven's joy. 

15* 



174 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

But to you, believer, a sphere of extensive and 
laborious exertion may be allotted. To work zeal 
ously, prominently, unweariedly, may be the pro- 
vince your God hath chosen for you. Your mind 
may teem with plans for the propagation of the 
truth ; and your days and years may be too few to 
accomplish all your heart would desire, and all in 
which your hands engage. You are at your post 
"in season and out of season, in weariness and 
watchings often, in labours more abundant." You 
find the wilderness of this earth overspread with 
thorns, and little ground cultivated ; and while your 
arm retains its energy, and power from on High is 
given, you will do what in you lies, that in some 
spot at least, to which you have access, " the de- 
sert may rejoice and blossom as the rose, and that 
an highway may be there, — the way of holiness." 
Hail ! beloved of the Lord ; you are a fellow- 
worker with God. Think not your duties too ar- 
duous, for rest is nigh. " Neglect not the gift that 
is in thee:" work on, "bear the burden and heat 
of the day," for "the sleep of a labouring man is 
sweet." " God is not unrighteous to forget your 
work and labour of love which you have showed 
towards his name." If in the ministry, "4o the 
work of an evangelist, make full proof of iky min 
istry. And henceforth there is laid up for you % 
crown of righteousness, which the Lord the right 
eous judge shall give you." 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 175 

But again, Christian, are you more especially 
called to encounter that conflict with sin and Satan, 
which has been noticed in a preceding chapter, and 
in which all Christ's disciples more or less engage ? 
Do the fiery darts of the wicked one seem peculi- 
arly levelled at you ? Is the conflict between what 
you would be and what you are, fierce ? Are you 
often well-nigh defeated — at times, peradventure, 
overcome ? Yet still do you fight, and feel that 
you cannot yield, that defeat is worse than death ? 
Let the recollection, that to maintain this warfare 
strength is given you, be well impressed upon your 
heart. Your province is, to contend and conquer ; 
wherefore, means of defence are bestowed upon 
you. You cannot fight without weapons ; and you 
have none until they are put into your hands. Your 
single arm would soon have been unnerved and the 
battle would long since have been lost, had you 
alone been engaged in it. No contest in your own 
strength is possible ; instruments of resistance are 
furnished you, and your arms are made strong by 
the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. You have 
no power to subdue this great company ; yet the 
victory is yours, for it is " God that girdeth thee 
with strength;" " He teacheth your hands to war, 
and your fingers to fight ;" and it is " He that giveth 
salvation from the hurtful sword." Wherefore, 
meet your assailants undauntedly. You are not 
placed in the front of the battle by chance ; God 



176 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

designs this service for you ; it is the post of hon 
our. The Captain of your salvation has confidence 
in your valour. He intends that the armour he 
hath given you shall be used ; that his gifts and his 
graces shall not lie dormant. Open your eyes and 
see, although an host compasseth the city, they that 
be with you are more than they that be with them. 
You have received the Spirit ; employ his gifts " to 
the praise of the glory of his grace." 

Thus, believer in Jesus, it appears, that by 
nature you are destitute of every thing, in t~mpei 
and disposition, that is truly good. Whatever dis- 
tinguishes you from the wretched and the worldly, 
you have received, and nothing is given you to lie 
hidden and unemployed, but every gift is designed 
to be used. It becomes, therefore, an imperative du- 
ty, that each disciple of Christ should seriously in- 
quire, what spiritual graces are in any degree be- 
stowed upon him—and what use he is making of 
gifts so precious ? We are no Christians, unless 
we enjoy in some measure the Spirit's influence. 
There are, we read, diversities of operations. To 
one is given the word of wisdom ; to another the 
word of knowledge ; to another faith. But " all 
these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man severally, as he will." Yet, 
whatever be the gifts, let them appear ; let them 
shine with a lustre that marks their heavenly origin. 
Be solicitous that the ends for which they were 



GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 177 

bestowed should be accomplished, in the beauty of 
God's work being conspicuous where desolation 
and ruin dwelt, and in the blessing to your own 
soul, which they are calculated to impart, being 
more and more abundant. It is surely not arrog- 
ance to affirm, that satisfaction must arise to God 
himself, when the graces of his Spirit grow in his 
people, and when they employ to good account his 
gifts. If we bestow upon others what costs us 
much, we feel hurt that they cast it away as use- 
less, and gratified if they appreciate its value, and 
use it frequently. And surely the gift of the Holy 
Spirit is unspeakably valuable, when there was but 
one adequate price — Immanuel's blood ; and that 
high price God did not deem too extravagant to 
purchase it. And shall we who receive it freely 
not take the full benefit of the inestimable boon, by 
letting one end, for which it is given, be completely 
accomplished, in exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit 
in all their plenitude and beauty ; by seeking to 
display the mind of the Lord to men in the exhibi- 
tion of his graces. To you, Christians, is com- 
mitted this gift of great price, not only to enrich 
yourselves, but to redound to the glory of God ; 
and this you can only effect by the conspicuous 
development of the Christian character. Yet be 
not discouraged, if your attainments are hitherto 
small. Grace, like the grain, grows ; and that 
which is but as the seed in you, may soon ripen 



178 GRACE GIVEN TO BE USED. 

into the full corn in ear.* But in whatever degree 
you possess it, be it less or more, use it ; exhibit 
its fruit, which, as derived from God, will be lovely 
even in its immature state, and when more advanc- 
ed, luxuriant and beautiful. God never works with 
the view to have his work concealed ; and we fall 
in most with the design of the Spirit in the great 
work of renovating the human soul, when we let 
nothing that he hath wrought in us sleep, but make 
the full use of the gifts he bestows. Thus shall 
we evince to the world, that " God hath chosen us 
to salvation, through set notification of the Spirit, 
and belief of the truth." 

* Mark iv. 28. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 



Natives of different Worlds— Trials of Christians in this World, as citizens 
of Heaven : accounted fools or madmen ; small number of their country- 
men ; dread of contamination — These Trials prove their descent — Consola- 
tory to know that their heavenly origin must remain — Impossible altogether 
to efface the identity of countrymen— The Spirit's seal equally uneffacea- 
ble — Inquietudes in the way to Heaven may well be borne— Evidence of 
citizenship in love of countrymen. 



" As men who long in prison dwell, 
With lamps that glimmer round their cell,. 
Whene'er their surf 'ring years are run, 
Spring forth to greet the glitt'ring sun : — 
Such joy, tho' far transcending sense, 
Have pious souls at parting hence : 
On earth, and in the body plac'd 
A few and evil years they waste ; 
But when their chains are cast aside, 
See the bright scene unfolding wide, 
Clap the glad wing, and tow'r away, 
And mingle with the blaze of day.". 

From the cursory view that has been taken, in 
the beginning of this volume, of the maxims, man- 
ners, and feelings of the worldly, contrasted with 
what has been latterly stated, of the capacities, 
desires, and affections of the sincerely religious, it 
will appear, that these two classes are equally dis- 



ISO THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 

tinguishable as if they were natives of separate 
worlds ; what is the most satisfactory and desira- 
ble to the one, being quite the reverse to the other ; 
and what is possible to the latter class, what those 
belonging to it are capable of, and formed for, 
being quite impossible, while they remain un- 
changed, to the former. It is true, that the nature 
of both these classes was originally the same ; that 
their tendencies and dispositions were alike ; and 
that, remaining unaltered, their pleasures and pur- 
suits would have been similar. But the disciples 
of Christ have been made citizens of another and 
a better country ; and, consequently, an entire re- 
novation in the whole man has been effected, by 
which they are become new creatures, born again 
from above, and incapable of deriving their highest 
gratification from earth. Their grand distinctive 
property, in truth, is, that they belong to another 
world. They feel themselves, while here, but as 
strangers and sojourners ; and their hopes, desires, 
and expectations, centre in a future state. They 
are as residents in a foreign land, where the cus- 
toms, ideas and practices of the country are not 
congenial to them ; and where they must likewise 
expect reproach and dislike, in as far as they do 
not conform to the general usages. 

In this chapter, it is our intention to consider 
the Christian as the citizen of heaven, and in this 
light to inquire what trials and what consolations 



THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 181 

he may anticipate as he journeys through this 
earth. 

And, first, it is a trial to be accounted a fool or 
a madman ; and this the Christian must anticipate, 
if his eyes are fixed on imperishable blessedness, 
and closed on surrounding vanities.* We readily 
admit, that what is unknown and unfelt is difficult 
to be conceived by us ; and the world's votaries, 
having no knowledge of what they deem good, but 
that which is derived from earth, when thev see 
an influence obtained over believers, strong as is 
their conviction of heaven's treasure, the inference 
the worldly universally draw is, that a preposses- 
sion, to them thus marvellous, must originate in 
folly, — that nothing but weakness in intellect, and 
fanaticism in idea, could generate a conduct so un- 
accountable. Thus they frequently brand with 
every epithet that denotes imbecility of mind, the 
disciple of Jesus. 

There is something revolting to man in derision 
and scorn ; and more especially so when conscious 
that it is undeserved. But the world's mockery 
must be borne, in consequence of the Christian 
having senses given him to discern w r hat is hidden 
from the men of it. While his eye pierces the 
veil that conceals the land of light, and looks on 
wonders that are undiscoverable to others, is it 

* Hos. ix. 7. 
16 



182 THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEK. 

strange that they smile at what appears to them 
his delusion ? This, then, is a trial the citizens of 
heaven endure ; and well they may, — the benefit 
of their change of state is theirs, and the reality 
of folly rests with those who, from ignorance, affix 
the title of fool to believers, insensible that, in 
truth, they themselves merit it. 

Another trial to the citizen of heaven, in this 
foreign land, is the small number of his country- 
men that inhabit it. Amidst the multiplicity of all 
denominations of men who are around him, or with 
whom he holds converse, there are but a few in 
whose countenances or demeanour he can trace 
the bonds of country. These are but as speckled 
birds, — sufficiently rare to remind him of his dis- 
tance from home, and his foreign extraction. It 
is trying to leave one class of society and enter 
another, and still not listen to accents that are fa- 
miliar, or meet with congenial modes of thinking 
and acting, — to find in none a friendly aspect, or a 
kindly smile. Yet so it often is with the Chris- 
tian. Pretension to religion is indeed common, 
and it is considered a lack of charity to doubt its 
truth ; but it is the discriminating marks of coun- 
trymen the Christian longs to see, but fails to dis- 
cern. The manners, appearances, language, fea- 
tures, habits, and enjoyments of the people with 
whom he dwells, are diversified ; but they are not 
those of the citizens of his home ! It matters not 



THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 183 

from what country they claim descent, so long as 
they bear no resemblance to the inhabitants of his. 
The claim of lineage is of no avail, it is the evi- 
dence of affinity that affords solace and comfort to 
the traveller, when he meets with those whose 
demeanour can stand this test in a foreign clime. 
And these high-sounding pretenders to religion are 
in name Christians, but not in heart or in practice. 
Thus the believer often feels himself solitary and 
deserted in the world, and looks in vain for that 
sympathy and fellowship which refreshes and 
cheers. 

But there is a trial that is more personal, which 
is experienced by the citizens of heaven, as they 
journey through this earth, which frequently 
wounds their spirits, and mars their comfort, — we 
allude to the dread they may entertain of being 
contaminated, in temper or habits, by the prac- 
tices and manners of the many around them ; or 
to the effects which intercourse with such may 
actually have produced. Wherein the danger lies, 
and how unwarily Christians may be beguiled into 
compliances at variance with the standard of duty, 
and unworthy of their high destiny, has been 
shown in our first chapters. Yet, that it is so 
must ever be productive, in the mind of a believer, 
of self-inspection and self-reproach. He sighs to 
find an ally, Sin, within his breast, which inclines 
him to think lightly of deviations from the unerring 



184 THE CITIZENS OP HEAVEN. 

rule his God hath given him ; and often he detects 
conformity to the world where, perhaps, he least 
imagined he had been guilty of it. Foreigners in- 
variably imbibe somewhat of the ideas and fashions 
of the land in which they sojourn, even when the 
practices of their own country are infinitely pre- 
ferable. It rarely happens that men receive no 
impression from surrounding objects ; so the pre- 
cept, — " Be not conformed to this world, but be 
ye transformed, by the renewing of your mind," is 
of difficult attainment. And when, in any degree, 
worldliness in heart or life has crept upon the 
Christian, a cloud must, for the time, rest upon his 
spirit ; for the ties of gratitude to his King, and of 
attachment to the laws of his country, are broken, 
and the cry is wrung from them, — " Oh ! that my 
ways were directed to keep thy statutes !" It is, 
however comforting to know, that, placed in these 
ensnaring circumstances, the traveller to Zion pos- 
sesses security that he shall not be permitted long 
to stray from the right path. The intercession of 
Christ, and the power of God, are his defence ; 
and his fears may be hushed while the words of 
the Saviour remain indelibly written, "I pray not 
that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but 
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Holy 
Father, keep, through thine own name, those 
w r hom thou hast given me, that they may be one, 
as we are." 



fHE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 185 

That these are trials is, however, undeniable ; 
and it is likewise certain, that every traveller to- 
wards Zion must expect, in a greater or less degree, 
to meet with them. Have we, then, known any- 
thing of their bitterness ? Are we treated with 
contempt for the name of Jesus ? Are we mourn- 
ing for the general depravity, and grieved that so 
few with whom we converse bear testimony, by 
their tempers and lives, that they are numbered 
among Christ's genuine disciples ? And are we 
jealous of ourselves, dreading to be enslaved by 
the opinions and customs of a world lying in wick- 
edness, and sincerely afflicted if conscious that we 
have deviated, in practice, from the unerring rule 
of God's holy law ? If this be our experience and 
character, there is consolation for us in the proof 
thus afforded that we are citizens of heaven. 
Trials such as these are the badge of our disciple- 
ship. No other denomination of men experience 
them, — none but Christ's little flock can feel them. 
None but the faithful followers of the Lamb en- 
dure the world's scorn for their adherence to his 
cause. None lament that darkness is around them, 
but those who have seen the light. Thus there is 
consolation blended with the trials that, as citizens 
of heaven, the people of God sustain. 

But not only may this people find consolation in 
the certainty that they are the citizens of heaven, 
it is likewise most consolatory to know, that they 

16* 



186 THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 

ever must be so, — that it is an impossibility to take 
from them their heavenly origin. We may live 
for a time distant from our home, and alienated 
from our native land, but, go where we please, our 
birth-place continues the same, — we cannot alter 
it. We have been born there, and that is our 
country ; our absence from it may be protracted, 
our manners may even be corrupted by intercourse 
with other nations, but still citizens of our own 
country we must remain ; and neither we ourselves 
nor any one else have pow T er to alter our descent 
from this line of ancestry. We are of this stock, 
our extraction is from thence, and thus it shall con- 
tinue to be. 

Nor is it possible entirely to efface the identity 
of countrymen. We always mark something, in 
habit, utterance, or idea, that reminds us of the 
land of our fathers. Men of different nations 
never completely assimilate ; nor do they lose their 
distinctive features, their natural preferences, and 
their national peculiarities ; and foreign extraction 
may easily be traced in all who come from remote 
districts. 

And so the citizens of heaven. Their new 
birth, being an act of the Most High, cannot be 
repealed. " Every one that is called by my name, 
I have created him for my glory ; I have formed 
him, yea, I have made him." They have " passed, 
therefore, from death unto life." They inherit a 



THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 187 

nature which is imperishable as that from which it 
is derived, and to which it is united, — even the 
nature of God himself. They have been born 
again of the Spirit ; and that which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit ; not like matter, liable to corruption 
and decay, but indissoluble, and of endless exist- 
ence. Christ gives unto them eternal life, and 
they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck 
them out of his hand. And heirs of the inherit- 
ance of the saints in light they unalterably remain, 
even amidst the wreck of worlds. 

And equally ineffaceable is the impress of that 
seal which the Spirit of God has stamped upon 
their souls. There are marks, not to be mistaken, 
which the children of God's kingdom bear, remind- 
ing us of their high origin and exalted destiny. 
There are peculiarities of language, of habit, and 
of idea, that never forsake them, into whatever so- 
ciety they may be thrown, or with whomsoever 
they may associate. They have preferences, aver- 
sions, joys, and griefs, that are distinguishing ; and, 
in the company of the worldly, their foreign ex- 
traction may, without difficulty, be discerned. 
Their identity is visible in their zeal for the honour 
of their King, and their scrupulous endeavour to 
keep His laws. And His laws they do keep, al- 
though, in an unwary moment, and to their inex- 
pressible sorrow, they may have been betrayed 
into the breach of any of them. 



188 THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 

If, then, the kindred, the country, the origin, of 
this people, be abundantly evident, and not to be 
mistaken ; and if it be certain that they not only 
are, but ever shall remain, citizens of the heavenly 
state, the New Jerusalem, let them not be too 
deeply affected by the inquietudes that may assail 
them, or the inconveniences they may meet with 
by the way. The land where you sojourn, Chris- 
tian, or through which you must pass, as you jour- 
ney heavenward, has not the equable temperament, 
or the salubrious air, of the climate of your own 
country; and your health may partly be impaired, 
and your usefulness impeded, in consequence ; but 
you are on the road that leads to the land of up- 
rightness ; you travel onwards, and shall not great- 
ly suffer ere you reach your home, where the 
atmosphere is healthful, and every breath pure. 
Or you are grieved that you meet with so few with 
whom you can hold fellowship, — who are of one 
heart and of one soul, — whose language and de- 
meanour prove that they are of the peculiar people 
to whom you are united, in sympathy and affec- 
tion. You rarelv meet with those whose habits 
and sentiments are congenial ; possibly your opin- 
ions, manners, and customs, excite the scorn and 
contempt of the many around you ; and your en- 
deavours to do them good are repaid only by 
hatred. It matters not; cheerfully bear the re- 
proach of Jesus, " for here you have no continuing 



THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN- 189 

city, but seek one to come." Your countrymen 
may be distant, but they are numerous and united ; 
and it is with them you are destined to dwell. In 
your own land, union and sympathy are character- 
istic of the people ; and what is deemed contempti- 
ble in your present abode, is, by the inhabitants of 
Zion, eminently and universally prized. " Where- 
fore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and 
hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought 
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ : and as 
he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in 
all manner of conversation." Let the evidence of 
your citizenship be conspicuous. Be solicitous 
that all men may easily discern in you the marks 
that distinguish the citizens of heaven. Prove 
that vour claim of lineage is undoubted. Let 
there be nothing to create suspicion, from your 
carriage or behaviour, that you are of other de- 
scent, or belong to another nation. Unequivocally 
show your subjugation to your King, and glory in 
the qualities that note your countrymen. " Follow 
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, 
meekness." " Fight the good fight of faith, and 
lay hold on eternal life." 

There is an evidence arising out of the remarks 
in the preceding pages, by which heaven's citizens 
may be known, and it is a very decisive test by 
which to judge whether we are heirs of the hea- 
venly inheritance, and belong to that better 



190 THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 



country, — the regard we bear for the people of it. 
There is no surer sign that we have partaken of 
the grace of life, and are fellow-citizens of the 
saints, than if we delight in those whose hearts and 
conversation are in heaven. And if we can truly 
say that, in proportion to the proof they give, that 
the Spirit of God dwells in them, is the respect 
and love we entertain for God's people, no further 
testimony is requisite to evidence that we are of 
the same house and lineage. It is not the love of 
the saints that proves it, for this may exist irres- 
pective of their national peculiarities, but it is the 
love of that in them that marks the character of 
God's children ; it is the attractivenesss — the 
lustre — which the grace of God throws around the 
character, discerned ; it is the charm of piety, 
felt. 

Are you, then, believing soul, susceptible of 
this charm ? Is there in your view no sight so 
lovely as the irradiation of the countenance pro- 
duced by grace ? and the beauty, the consistency, 
and usefulness, of his life in whom God's Spirit 
dwells ? If, for this cause, and proportionably as 
you find it, you love Christians, there remains no 
uncertainty as to your own state, — you are a Chris- 
tian. No man loves that in others to which he is 
himself peculiarly opposed ; and all mankind are 
inimical to the religion of the Bible, excepting 
Christ's little flock. Where wealth, honour, talent, 



THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN. 191 

learning, are not valued, when put in comparison 
with the intrinsic worth which grace imparts, it is 
an unequivocal sign that there are sympathetic 
emotions within. To love Christians because we 
see in them qualities that are peculiarly Christian, 
marks the indwelling of the Spirit. And to have 
learned to discern, and to prize His glorious work 
in others, proves a work of grace begun in us. 
The Scriptures are so explicit, and so conclusive 
upon this point, that no clearer testimony can be 
given than to quote from them. " We know that 
we have passed from death unto life," said St. John, 
" because we love the brethren." " By this shall 
all men know that ye are my disciples," said our 
Lord himself, " if ye have love one to another." 



CHAPTER XII. 

GROVELLING NATURE OF WORLDLINESS. 



The people of God and the worldly may know to which class they belong — 
The worldly addressed— Reason and Immortality distinguish man from the 
brute creation — Both profitless to the worldly — Infinite weight of eternity 
— Not from reason that a change in man can be anticipated — Christianity 
restores man to his primeval dignity — That we prize our immortality a test 
to judge of our state — The world placed in the balance against eternal joy 
and present peace. 



" Op'ning the map of God's extensive plan, 
We find a little isle, this life of man. 
Eternity's unknown expanse appears, 
Curling around, and limiting his years. 
The busy race examine and explore 
Each creek and cavern of the dangerous shore; 
With care collect what in their eyes excels, 
Some shining pebbles, and some weeds and shells ; 
Thus laden, dream that they are rich. iu\d great, 
And happiest he that groans beneath his weight, 
The waves o'ertake them in their serious play, 
And every hour sweeps multitudes away ; 
They shriek and sink, survivors start aud weep, 
Pursue their sport and follow to the deep. 
A few forsake the throng ; with lifted eyes 
Ask wealth of heav'n, and gain a real prize." * 

As it is easy to distinguish the subjects of God's 
kingdom from the people that are around them in 
the world, by their manners, customs, affections, 



GROVELLING NATURE, &C 193 

and feelings, so there is no difficulty in distinguish- 
ing the worldly from the children of the kingdom. 
There is no resemblance, no similarity between 
them. Each is diverse from the other. What the 
one will do, the other will not do ; what the one 
seeks after, the other despises ; what the one loves, 
the other hates. Now, if this dissimilitude be so 
apparent, both classes may certainly know to which 
of them they themselves belong, by the distinctive 
properties that characterize them. A child of God 
needs not distress himself with fears that he is of 
the world, if he considers what it is that interests, 
that charms, that engrosses his heart. Nor needs 
a worldly character dread that he may possibly be- 
long to God's people, when he recollects what con- 
cerns are ever uppermost in his mind, what it is 
that occupies his thoughts and his labours, and after 
which he unweariedly pursues. 

Taking it then for granted that the worldly are 
satisfied that they are of this class, — that they en- 
tertain no doubt upon the subject, — that they know 
and acknowledge that they are of the people de- 
nominated worldly by the more strictly religious, 
we shall, in conclusion, address a few words to 
such, whose affections rest upon earth, and who 
thence derive all that they hope to enjoy. 

You seek satisfaction in the things of time, and 
in the good a present world affords ; but, are you 
thoroughly convinced that you would be satisfied 

17 



194 GROVELLING NATURE 

if you could embrace all that you desire, and pos- 
sess every thing here that you are solicitous to ob- 
tain ? Is there certainty, that even in that case, 
your happiness would be ensured ? Perhaps you 
may be ready to reply that you do not doubt it. 
You have no other inclination, and the bestowal of 
what you covet is all the enjoyment you aspire 
after. 

Let, then, the supposition be made, that, what- 
ever is the object of your ambition, be it wealth, 
honour, or pleasure, — these combined, — or what- 
ever it may be, were, to an unprecedented extent, 
bestowed upon you, and that the blessing was never 
withheld while you live. Here is a large grant of 
worldly good, possibly larger than has ever fallen 
to the lot of man. It has been formerly shown, 
that these things are not, in themselves, calculated 
to give content, but upon that argument we shall 
not here insist, nor attempt to shake your convic- 
tion that they are profitable and desirable ; you be- 
lieve them to be so, and seek no other. Yet, is 
there nothing that is calculated to awaken distrust 
and alarm in the limitation of the tenure by which 
all that springs from earth is held ? Contemplate 
the boundary line that terminates your joys when 
at their utmost extent ; they end with life ; not one 
worldly satisfaction reaches beyond it. And can it 
be that your wishes are confined to these perishing 
enjoyments ? Are you quite satisfied to live your 



OF WORLDLINESS. 195 

little day, flutter like insects in the sunshine, and 
then lose your all ? Will happiness so sparingly 
dealt out suffice during an eternal existence ? Is 
there nothing distasteful to you in the idea, that a 
termination must so speedily be put to your plea- 
sures, — that they die at the longest with you ? 
Perhaps you may reply that it is not so, — that you 
would willingly extend the term of your enjoyment 
if you could, but, as you know no joy that earth 
does not afford, and here you cannot abide, you 
submit because you must ; your doom is fixed — 
you cannot alter it. Yet, ere you abandon hope, 
suffer the inquiry, Is it possible that stable bliss can 
be found for you ? Oh ! dismiss not the thought 
hastily ; give it the serious consideration its impor- 
tance demands. Examine carefully and impar- 
tially into the true answer of questions such as 
these : " Is there good that fleets not with the life 
of man ? and may I obtain it ? — Are there imperish- 
able riches ? and may I possess them ? God, in 
his Word, affirms, that there are joys which de- 
pend upon, and emanate from, Himself, which 
neither cloy nor wither ; that there are treasures 
which have no tendency to decay. And the con- 
dition upon which they are bestowed, — listen 
earthly pilgrim ! — is, that they are asked ! How- 
ever expensively they have been prepared, they are 
freely given. And, is there not folly in the neg- 
lect of this boon ? And is there not wisdom in the 



196 GROVELLING NATURE 

search after it ? Die, O worldling, you must, to 
sublunary joy ! — live, you may, in eternal blessed- 
ness ! 

But, hitherto, we have taken the most favourable 
view of earthly enjoyments; we have supposed 
them large as they can be, and enduring while life 
lasts. Have you found them thus great, thus dura- 
ble, poor deluded votary of the world ? Have they 
never palled upon your taste, and the sweet be- 
come bitter ? Has pleasure, while you grasped it, 
never escaped from your hold ? or, the more you 
seemed to possess it, has it not become the less de- 
sirable ? Have you never said of life itself, " I 
loathe it !" And if it be but a shadow of good that 
you obtain on earth, and this vanishing phantom 
only for a day, how little is it to be coveted ? — It 
is worthless, it is useless. 

But there are grovelling spirits to be met with, 
who have no hesitation in avowing, that the plea- 
sures of earth content them. Worldly gratifica- 
tions are quite to their taste ; they are satisfied 
with them, and they do not trouble themselves 
with the idea that they will soon end. If these 
pleasures are short-lived, they will at least have 
their day of earth's transitory enjoyments ; and 
let the term be longer or shorter, they have no 
relish for any bliss that is more elevated or pure. 
They believe in no joy of which they do not at 
present feel themselves susceptible. They possess 



OF WORLDLINESS. 197 

what they desire ; futurity is too distant to interest 
them. Let eternity provide for itself ! 

Of one thing, earthworms, you surely are devoid, 
and that is — ambition ! If a life-rent is all you ask, 
when perpetuity is offered, you aspire to little. 
Know you not, that 

" Perpetuity of bliss alone is bliss V 

Can it be, that a few years, — it may be, hours of 
pleasure, — will suffice for an immortal soul ? Can 
satisfaction for eternity be found in a day ? Your 
contentment is at variance with the belief of man's 
unending existence. It is a tacit denial of the im- 
mortality of the soul ; it is levelling, it is pitiful ! 
Methinks the race of men should rise in arms 
against a kinsman who thus degrades their species, 
and would confine their happiness to the low enjoy- 
ments that may be gleaned during the short span 
of human life. Let the worldling gather honey, if 
he can, from earth's flowers ; let him beware of 
affirming, that there are not more luxuriant plants, 
filled with richer sweets, within his reach, and that 
these are not held out to his acceptance, beyond 
the grave, would he receive them. 

There are two things that more especially dis- 
tinguish man from the brute creation, — reason and 
immortality. Deprive him of these, and he be- 
comes on a level with the lower animals. And 
those worldly men who content themselves with 

17 # 



198 GROVELLING NATURE 

earthly joy, desiring nothing better, casting higher 
hopes from them, in fact resign their claim to either 
of these ennobling characteristics. 

What proof of reason does that man give who 
clings to the lowest, and is unwilling to receive the 
highest good ; who cares not to give up, without 
any equivalent, unutterable and everlasting blessed- 
ness ? Reason, surely, there is none here. A 
creature devoid of it might select the worse, and 
leave the infinitely better ; but not so him in whom 
intellectual capacity dwells. The worldly, who act 
thus in the most important of all concerns, must 
admit, that their claim to rational endowment, or 
at least to their exercising the powers of the under- 
standing, is gone. Their intellect, in this case, is 
not exerted, and therefore it is void. 

Nor do the worldly propose to make more use 
of the other ennobling quality we have specified 
— namely, immortality. Of what benefit is the 
term of endless years to him w T ho expects no en- 
joyment in them, — whose pleasures are of the 
earth, earthy ? Were heaven and its blessedness 
swept from the universe, it were matter of no con 
cern to that man, who values not the most valuable 
part of his existence, and would resign it if he might. 
He abandons the exhaustless fountain of pure joy, 
that is open and offered to his acceptance, and 
strives to quench his thirst with the dregs of pol- 
luted, worldly pleasure, which never satisfy. And 



OF WORLDLINESS. 199 

is there not an assimilation to the inferior animals 
here, in the low estimation in which immortality is 
held, and the conception, which seems rooted in 
the minds of the worldly, that that which elevates 
and dignifies humanity is not conducive to the hap- 
piness of man ? If our felicity springs exclusively 
from earth, so does that of the worm that enters its 
recesses, or crawls on its surface. And is man 
willing to be degraded to an equality with the most 
grovelling species having life ? — man, who is 
" noble in reason ! infinite in faculties ! in form 
and moving, how express and admirable ! in ac- 
tion, how like an angel !" 

" Though sullied and dishonour'd, still divine ! 
Dim miniature of greatness absolute S" 

Shall he cleave to the dust, and be content to gro- 
vel with the grub, or, if he rise at all, merely to 
flutter with the butterfly ? It may be so ; but he 
is lost to the superiority of his nature over crea- 
tures in rank infinitely subordinate. Oh ! it is 
grievous to see an immortal soul despise the privi- 
leges of his immortality, and hug the chains which 
confine his happiness within the narrow limits of 
his existence on earth ! 

" Yet man, fool man ! here buries all his thoughts : 
Inters celestial hopes without one sigh. 
Pris'ner of earth, and pent beneath the moon, 
Here pinions all his wishes : Wing'd by heav'n 
To ily at infinite ; and reach it there 
Where seraphs gather immortality. 
On Life's fair tree, fast by the throne of God, 



200 GROVELLING NATURE 

What golden joys ambrosial clust'ring glow 
In His full beam !" 

For these the worldly neither look nor hunger, but 
still would feed on husks of earthly growth, scanty 
and unsatisfying although they be. 

" There is a spirit in man," said Elihu, " and 
the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him under- 
standing." How, then, is the spirit abased, and 
the understanding become darkened ! How is the 
gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed ! 
Alas ! for man, if immortality is profitless to him ! 
The weighty gift of an infinite duration of bliss 
accounted useless and tasteless ! Could he divest 
himself of this proud distinction, immortality, he 
would be lowered in the scale of being, sunk in 
grade among the creation of God. But this he 
cannot do. Be it ever remembered, immortal he 
must still remain. To renounce his immortality, 
the powers of man are totally inadequate. And 
let the dread thought be forcibly impressed upon 
the mind, — when immortality ceases to be the 
greatest blessing, it becomes necessarily the great- 
est curse ! — for its endless ages, if not spent in 
bliss, must be spent in wo ! But this is a hack- 
neyed theme, and therefore makes no impression. 
We speak of endless happiness and misery as we 
do of the occurrences of a day, — a conception of 
the full meaning of the words is not entertained 
by us. The force, the boundlessness of the ideas, 



OF WORLDLINESS. 201 

is never felt. The entire sense the words convey 
does not reach the mind. It is to be questioned 
if any man ever conceived of the awful importance 
attached to the expressions, endless bliss and end- 
less wo. As we journey onward in another sphere, 
blissful, or the sad reverse, the infinite weight of 
eternity may by degrees open upon us. And as 
its importance becomes gradually unfolded, we 
shall be inclined to startle, as well as marvel, at its 
infinitude, while lengthened terms elapse, and its 
duration is not shortened ! What continuity can- 
not lessen, or extent of years abridge, is without a 
limit, an idea which bewilders the senses. And 
whether we shall ever be enabled to grasp the idea 
in another world, or when even a slight perception 
of eternity may begin to be developed, remains 
unknown to us. 

Oh ! votary of the world, pause ere you rush 
headlong into wretchedness thus absorbing, thus 
interminable ! Can it be that you shudder not to 
plunge into the gulf of endless perdition ! Shall 
not the burning of unquenchable fire produce con- 
tinued anguish ? Shall not the gnawings of the 
worm that never dies inflict perpetual torture ? 
Well may you be willing to renounce your immor- 
tality, if your existence must be thus hopelessly 
miserable ! But " why will you die ?" is the lan- 
guage addressed to you in Holy Writ. " I have 
no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith 



202 GROVELLING NATURE 

your God, turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways 
and live." 

However reasonable the course here suggested 
may be, it is not from reason that any change in 
worldly characters can be anticipated. The heart 
of man, unrenewed by grace, is so abhorrent of 
true religion, that it is almost ready to run the risk 
of unlimited suffering, and to take the chance of 
what futurity may produce, rather than adopt this 
hated remedy. It is too true, that in our native 
state we " cannot serve the Lord,"* that no service 
is so distasteful, none so repugnant to the natural 
bent of man's inclinations, as obedience to the 
commands of a Holy God. Yet without this sub- 
serviency of heart to our Creator we are lost. God 
and man must be united in design and in desire, 
if man is to be rendered happy; from opposition 
to God there must ensue misery. But "He is of 
one mind, and who can turn him," and from ever- 
lasting to everlasting the same. It is not possible 
that God should change — perfection admits not of 
change. To alter aught in God is to make his 
excellencies less transcendently glorious. That 
which has attained the highest altitude cannot 
ascend, but if moved in the scale must be lowered. 
And shall God stoop to meet the imperfections of 
man ? It cannot be. The nature of the Supreme 

* Joshua xxiv. 19. 



OP WORLDLINESS. 203 

is stationary, without rise or fall. Throughout 
eternity it remains, infinitely and beyond concep- 
tion, exalted above that of the creature, incapable 
of the slightest deviation from the height of per- 
fection ! 

If this be admitted, and if it be true that man's 
nature, since the fall, is at variance with the per- 
fections of Jehovah, and that assimilation between 
God and man is necessary to man's happiness, it 
follows that in order to effect it, a change must 
take place in the human soul. This change is at 
once glorious and elevating. It transforms the 
faculties that were fettered to earth, into those 
which are heavenly in their origin and tendency. 
And one noble effect of this transformation is in 
the satisfaction, the delight, that is experienced 
from the knowledge of man's immortality. Bound- 
less duration is no longer spurned as of little 
value, or dreaded as a curse, but is felt to be un- 
speakably precious, and is received as the gift 
which enhances beyond expression, that of life. 
The nature is fitted for the reception of the match- 
less boon, an4 it is received with gratitude. The 
man who is born from above is not content with 
the inferior animal's destiny. He seeks not to 
perish everlastingly ! He grovels no longer, lick- 
ing the dust. He finds earth beneath the level to 
which his ambition rises. With avidity he grasps 
an eternal and unfading crown ! Elevation of soul 



204 GROVELLING NATURE 

is present, and man is restored to his primeval 
dignity ! 

My reader ! has this ennobling change passed 
upon you ? There is a test by which to judge of 
it ; how do you stand affected as it regards immor- 
tality ? Is eternity your desire, or your dread ? 
Are your thoughts respecting it pleasing, or the 
reverse ? Or is it that, of which you think not at 
all ? You cannot value what never costs you a 
thought ; and if you value not this high distinction 
of man, there is a grovelling taint that lurks with- 
in, there is earthliness, there are symptoms of base 
extraction, there is a sordid defilement on the soul, 
there is an influence that levels, that subordinates. 

But possibly you may satisfy yourself with the 
conviction that you wish for the continuance of 
your existence, that you are averse to the idea of 
perishing with the brutes, that you feel the " secret 
dread and inward terror of falling into nought." 
And who does not feel it, when the awful thought 
is brought home with power to the mind ? The 
soul naturally " shrinks back on herself, and startles 
at destruction." Yet this feeling may exist, and still 
you may be a stranger to that which proves that 
your treasure is in heaven, delight in the prospect 
of immortality. It is an immortal existence spent 
as you would have it that you desire, and not that 
happiness which is bestowed as the highest boon 
on God's most favoured creatures, in which purity 



OF WORLDLINESS. 205 

of heart forms the essence. The reality of eternal 
blessedness you prize not ; wherefore, till you are 
taught to prize it, there is no help from God him- 
self for you ! Oh ! seek then that change which 
is described by the sacred penman as a passing 
" from death unto life." That man is in a state of 
eternal death, to whom eternal life is inaccessible ; 
if he cannot reach life, death is the only alterna- 
tive. Let your ardent supplications, therefore, as- 
cend unto Him who by the cross " hath abolished 
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light 
through the Gospel." Fervently pray that you 
may be rendered meet for the endless bliss he died 
to purchase. One requisite you possess, — immor- 
tality ; add to it an interest in the Redeemer's blood, 
and you are eternally blessed. 

But have you, believer in Jesus, learned fully to 
prize your immortality ? Have you considered the 
extent, the boundlessness, the preciousness, of im- 
mortal joy ? Strive to acquaint yourself with some 
faint conception, of continued, lengthened, joyful 
periods elapsing, without deducting one particle 
from the term still to elapse. Think of blessed- 
ness in continuity, until it seems scarcely possible 
but that of necessity it must subside or be exhaust- 
ed, and yet that at the longest space of its duration, 
there will be infinitely more to succeed than ever 
has passed ! The impossibility of subtraction con- 
stitutes eternity ; extent of time having no power 

18 



206 GROVELLING NATURE 

to diminish, or make the future less. The sum of 
periods, and consequently of joy in reserve (when 
all are joyful) remains stationary at the highest 
point of calculation, and can never be lowered by 
the sweep of ages ! The thought is overwhelm- 
ing, but it is overwhelmingly joyous ! Taste the 
joy, believing soul, now, that it is calculated to af- 
ford, — it will not deduct from the amplitude that is 
to come, — you cannot lessen eternity's bliss. What 
you take per advance is gain, is surplus ; eternal 
joy remains untouched, unaltered ! 

Against the weight of this blessedness let us 
place "the world," — all that it ever has given, all 
that it ever can give. Is the balance equal ? Can 
a few days or years weigh against eternity ? It 
cannot be ; even if the degree of joy experienced 
during the same period were alike ; but here, again, 
the default on the side of the world is immense ; 
in measure as in continuance heaven's bliss is infi- 
nitely superior. The largest amount of worldly 
blessing is not to be named as an equivalent for the 
loss of God's blessedness ! And will the largest 
amount of worldly blessing compensate for the 
endurance of the fire of God's wrath ? Ah ! no. 
Let it then be deeply impressed upon the mind that 
the world's pleasures are baubles not worth the 
possessing ; its smiles, trifles not worth the covet- 
ing ; its frowns, being quickly at an end, not worthy 
to be dreaded. 



OF WORLDLINESS. 207 

We cannot, however, conclude, without remind- 
ing our readers that this is not a fair statement of 
the fact ; it is not in futurity only that the believer's 
happiness exceeds that of other men ; in the pre- 
sent life the joys of the Christian greatly surpass 
those of the worldly, inasmuch as they are the 
joys in which God himself delights, and the enjoy- 
ments of the world, those of degraded, fallen crea- 
tures. Let us then seek the substance, not the 
shadow of bliss. And let it be our unwearied en- 
deavour, as well as our highest ambition, to attain 
that blessedness which is satisfying, ennobling, and 
eternal ! 



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